


No Matter the Timeline

by massivedrickhead



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Bechloe Aus, F/F, One Shot Collection, bechloe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:06:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 56,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25072093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/massivedrickhead/pseuds/massivedrickhead
Summary: So I've been posting one-shots on my Tumblr for forever, and I thought it might be time to migrate them over here. These are all stand alone prompts/one-shots/drabbles whatever you want to call them, so each chapter is a separate story. If any were in 2 parts, I'll post both parts in the same chapter. I haven't put them all up, just my favourite ones. I'll also stick the date of when each one was posted. If any trigger warnings apply I'll put them at the beginning.The summary will be the prompt, and if there was an author's note that I posted at the time, I'll stick that in the notes at the beginning.Hopefully that all makes sense!Enjoy :)
Relationships: Beca Mitchell & Aubrey Posen, Chloe Beale & Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale & Beca Mitchell & Aubrey Posen, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 366
Kudos: 475





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> Could you do a prompt where Beca is burnt out from working so hard at record company or something and Chloe takes care of her and is all soft??
> 
> Originally posted 2nd July 2020

It was 10 pm when Chloe was startled awake by the sound of the front door closing.

A textbook for veterinary school was lying open against her chest, and there was a crick in her neck from falling asleep on the sofa.

“Bec?” She said, rubbing her eyes and putting the book on the coffee table. “Is that you?”

Beca gave a grunt in response and dropped onto the sofa next to her.

“Why are you still up?” Beca mumbled, immediately resting her head in Chloe’s lap and closing her eyes.

“I was waiting up for you,” Chloe said, running her hand through Beca’s hair.

“M’sorry,” she breathed out.

“That’s okay,” Chloe replied. “You want something to eat? I made dinner, I can go reheat it for you.”

Beca opened her eyes. “What did you make?”

Chloe smiled, “Mac and cheese. You want some?”

Beca nodded and, with great effort, lifted herself up from Chloe’s lap.

“So how was work?” Chloe asked from the kitchen.

“Busy,” Beca said, now resting her head in her hands, her elbows digging into her thighs. “Long.”

Chloe brought Beca’s food through and sat beside her on the sofa, rubbing circles on her back as she ate.

“You look tired, baby,” Chloe said.

“Thanks,” Beca said with a laugh. She ate the food quickly, and Chloe wondered if she’d stopped to eat all day. “What time is it?”

“About 10:30,” Chloe replied. 

Beca groaned. 

“What?”

“They want me back in at 7,” she said, rubbing at her eyes.

“Seriously?” Chloe asked, her voice soft but disappointed. “Bec, it’s Saturday tomorrow. You’ve done like 16 hour days every day for the last like two weeks.”

“I know that,” Beca said. “But it’s my job.” She knew Chloe wanted to say more, but she didn’t have the energy for a fight. “Please, Chlo’. Not tonight? I’m just… I don’t wanna fight. I don’t feel good.”

“What’s wrong?” Chloe asked, biting her bottom lip.

“I dunno. Tired, headache, stomach ache. Everything is kinda hurting,” Beca said.

“Are you getting sick?” Chloe asked, holding her hand against Beca’s forehead.

“I don’t think so,” Beca said, stifling a yawn. “I don’t know. Can we just go to bed?”

“Okay,” Chloe said, pushing down her worry. “But if you still feel bad in the morning, you’re staying off work.”

“I can’t do that,” Beca said, wincing slightly as Chloe helped her stand.

“I’ll call and yell at Theo if I have to,” Chloe said.

“Don’t yell at Theo,” Beca said, changing out of her work clothes and into a baggy t-shirt. “He’s already terrified of you.”

“He should be,” Chloe said. “Can I get you anything?”

Beca shook her head, and Chloe climbed into the bed beside her.

“I just worry about you, you know?”

Beca didn’t reply because she’d already fallen asleep.

Chloe pressed a kiss to her forehead, and fell asleep quickly.

She felt like she’d only been asleep for seconds when the ringing of Beca’s phone woke her up. It was 11:45 pm.

Beca was still dead to the world, so Chloe picked the phone up from her nightstand and hurried out into the hall with it. 

At the sight of Theo’s name on the call screen, her exhaustion turned to anger quickly.

“Hello, Beca’s phone?” She said, fighting to keep her voice quiet so she didn’t wake her fiancé.

“Hey Chloe, is she there?” Theo asked. He sounded tired too, and she could hear voices talking in the background.

“She’s sleeping, what’s wrong?”

“We need her back here,” he said, stifling a yawn. “The vocals she did earlier didn’t save, we need her to come back in and re-do them.”

“No,” Chloe said.

“… I’m sorry?”

“I said no. She’s sleeping. It’s 11:45 pm on a Friday night, and she’s probably only been asleep for about an hour. I’m not waking her up so she can drag herself to the studio and record some vocals that we both know won’t be useful because of how damn tired and run-down she is,” Chloe snapped. She knew her voice was getting louder, so she stepped further away from the bedroom.

She heard Theo sigh. “Chloe, this is her job, okay?”

“I know that. But she’s barely slept for more than a few hours for the last three weeks. She hasn’t had a single day off. She’s-” her voice caught in her throat. She forced herself to take a breath, pushing away the urge to cry. “You have her back in like 7 hours. Let her rest, please.”

“She knew what she was signing up for,” Theo said, sounding frustrated and exhausted. “She knew this would be hard work.”

“I’m not waking her up,” Chloe said.

“What’s going on?” Beca asked from behind her, her voice thick with sleep. “Is that my phone?”

“Go back to bed, Becs. I’m dealing with it,” Chloe said, her heart breaking at the sight of her. 

“Put her on the phone, please!” Theo said, his voice carrying over to Beca.

Beca sighed and held out her hand. “You should have woken me,” she said.

Chloe let out a groan of frustration and handed the phone over. “Please, baby, you need rest.”

Beca gave her a shrug and took the phone. “What’s up?” 

“Beca,” Theo said, sounding relieved. “We need you to come in and re-do those vocals.”

“Dude,” Beca said, groaning. “Can this seriously not wait until morning?”

“We’re all here waiting on those vocals,” Theo said. Beca could tell he was clenching his jaw like he always did when he was stressed. “This whole team is now at a standstill because we’re waiting on you.”

“Why did you even let me go home?” Beca asked, annoyed as she walked back into the bedroom. She began pulling clothes out of her wardrobe, the phone balanced in the crook of her neck as she dressed.

“Look, just come in for a few hours and take tomorrow off, how about that?”

“Is that a real offer, Theo?” Beca asked, skeptical. “Because you’ve been offering me days off for weeks now.”

“I promise. Once we get those vocals down, this track is as good as finished, and then the album is done, okay?” Theo said. 

“Fine,” Beca said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She hung up and tossed her phone onto the bed, and began pulling on the remainder of her clothes.

“Bec,” Chloe said, standing in the door way. “Please don’t do this.”

“I’m sorry, Chlo’. Just a few hours, okay? I’ll be back before you even wake up,” Beca said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

“I’m worried about you,” Chloe said. 

“I’m fine,” Beca said, kissing her on the cheek. “Go back to bed, I’ll be home soon.”

Chloe felt helpless as she watched Beca close their front door behind her.

Beca’s eyes itched with tiredness as she made the thirty minute drive to work. She didn’t know if she’d ever been this tired before.

Her head was pounding, and her hands were shaking slightly on the wheel. 

By the time she pulled into the deserted parking lot, she was starting to feel really rough. The pain in her stomach was nagging her, and she felt like her nerves were fried and frazzled.

“Good, you’re here. You want some coffee?” Theo asked as she walked into the studio.

“No,” Beca said, rubbing at her forehead. “I want to get this done so I can go home and sleep.”

“We all want the same thing,” he said. 

Beca looked around at the other people in the room and saw her own exhaustion reflected back. She felt for them. At least she’d been able to go home and eat and get a little bit of sleep.

“Okay,” Theo said, “we need the bridge and the last chorus. So whenever you’re ready.” He gestured to the booth.

“Give me a sec,” Beca said, taking a drink of water, trying to shift the throbbing in her head. “Why isn’t, uh, Ben Dover here?”

“Ben Rover,” Theo corrected. 

“Ben Dover’s a much better stage name. This is his track, his album, why isn’t he here?”

“Because it’s after midnight on a Friday and he’s a pop star,” Theo said.

“Oh so he gets a social life? Must be nice,” Beca said, drinking the remainder of her water. “Come on then, let’s get this done.”

As she stood, she felt the ground shift beneath her, and she had to grab onto the back of a chair to steady herself. 

“Beca?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Beca said, her voice shaking slightly. “Stood up too quick.”

She waited for the black spots in her vision to fade away, her hands gripping the chair.

“Sit down,” someone said.

“I’m fine,” Beca said, squeezing her eyes shut. She blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision.

“Seriously, Beca, sit down,” Theo said. He pushed another chair behind her, catching her in the back of the legs, causing them to buckle. “Take a minute. You want something to eat?”

Beca shook her head, feeling embarrassed as she rested her head in her hands. She was hoping the pain in her head and the nausea would pass soon. 

“Theo, can’t we just do this tomorrow man?” One of the interns asked. 

“We’re so close, guys,” he said, sounding exasperated. “You’ve all worked so hard, I know that. But we’re so close. This album is going to be huge for all of us, and we’re one little push away from it being done. Just think how good-”

His motivational speech was cut off by gasps as Beca slumped forward, falling out of her chair, and collapsing on the ground.

* * *

For the second time that night, Chloe was woken up by the sound of a phone ringing.

Theo was calling her.

“What happened?” Chloe asked, suddenly wide-awake.

“She’s fine,” Theo said, sounding apprehensive. “She just, uh, passed out, I guess?”

“She what?!” 

“It’s been a long night for everyone, she’s been working really hard-”

“Don’t give me that,” Chloe snapped. “I _know_ she’s been working hard. Is she okay? Have you called an ambulance?”

“She’s fine, Chloe. She doesn’t want an ambulance,” Theo said. 

“Put her on.”

She heard him sigh and say. “She wants to talk to you.”

“Hey baby,” Beca said. Her voice was barely there, but Chloe could hear the smile in it.

Whatever Chloe had planned to say didn’t come out, and instead she just burst into tears.

“Hey,” Beca said, softly. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I was out for like 10 seconds, tops. Didn’t even bump my head.”

“I’m coming to get you,” Chloe choked out. “And we’ll go to the hospital and get you checked out.”

“I’m fine, Chloe, I don’t need to go to the hospital. Theo’s called me an Uber, I’ll be home soon, okay?”

“Okay,” Chloe said, her voice shaking as she tried to hold back her tears. “Put him back on the phone please.”

“Please don’t yell at my boss,” Beca groaned, handing the phone over.

“I second what Beca just said,” Theo said, bracing himself.

“She has the weekend off,” Chloe said. It wasn’t a question. 

“Chloe-”

“She has the weekend off. The _whole_ weekend. When she gets home, her phone is getting switched off. She won’t be checking any emails, she won’t be taking any calls. At 8 am on Monday, you can have her back,” Chloe said, her voice calm but terrifying.

“The album-”

“-Can wait. I’m sure the artist will understand. It would be really bad for their publicity if, I don’t know, it was posted on social media that the label worked the artist’s producer passed the point of exhaustion, wouldn’t it? I mean, the artist would have to take a stand about that, right? The label would have to take a stand. People might lose their jobs.”

She heard Theo sigh. “Okay. You’ve made your point,” he said. “Beca can have the weekend off. Everyone can.” Chloe heard cheering in the background. “I… I didn’t mean for this to happen. I respect Beca a lot. She’s seriously talented, and she works really hard. I want her to do well. She is all over this album, Chloe. You can hear her in every song, not just her voice. This is gonna be big for her.”

“It’s not worth her health though,” Chloe said, softening slightly. 

“No,” he said. “It’s not. I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said. “Is she on her way home?”

“Yeah, one of the interns just loaded her into an Uber. She’ll be with you soon.”

“Good,” Chloe said. “Goodnight Theo.”

“Goodnight.”

Chloe paced while she waited for Beca to get home. She wouldn’t believe that Beca was alright until she saw her.

When she heard Beca’s keys in the door, she froze, waiting in the hallway, desperate to see her.

“Hey,” Beca said, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. 

Chloe practically ran towards her, and cupped her face in her hands.

“You look like shit,” she said, taking in Beca’s pale skin and tired red-rimmed eyes.

“Thank you,” Beca said, before sinking into Chloe’s arms.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Chloe said, gripping her tightly, tears streaming down her face.

“I won’t,” Beca said, her face buried in the crook of Chloe’s neck.

“What do you need?” Chloe asked, looking over her again as their hug ended.

“Bed,” Beca said. “Sleep.”

“Come on then,” Chloe said, half-carrying her to the bedroom.

She sat Beca on the bed and eased the jacket from her shoulders. Beca tried feebly to kick off her shoes, but couldn’t quite manage it. “I can’t do it. I’m so tired,” Beca groaned, tears pricking her eyes now.

“I’ll take care of it,” Chloe said, kissing her on the forehead.

She pulled off Beca’s shoes and helped her out of her jeans while Beca removed her own shirt and bra. Chloe grabbed a baggy t-shirt and slipped it over Beca’s head, helping her thread her arms through the sleeves.

Beca managed to crawl up the bed, and Chloe got in beside her, pulling her close and covering them both with their duvet.

“I love you so much Beca Mitchell,” Chloe said kissing the top of her head.

“Love you too,” Beca mumbled. “Can you do that thing…” She trailed off, pointing at her own head.

“Sure baby,” Chloe said, kissing her again. “Headache?”

“Mhm.”

“Okay.” Chloe began gently scratching across Beca’s scalp, rubbing at the base of her head, and then running her hands through her hair, and repeating the process.

She knew Beca had fallen asleep in seconds of her starting, but she didn’t stop.

She was just so glad to have her there, home and safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt thing and with hope you will feel better - Beca is dyslexic and is having trouble at the rehearsals, she won't say what is wrong even though girls keep asking or sth like that, then Chloe confronting her about it and a lot of fluff?
> 
> Originally posted 29th June 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thank you for sending this prompt. I think this might be the third time I’ve received this prompt, so I’m assuming they’re all from you? I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to it. I’ll be honest, the reason I haven’t done this prompt yet is because I don’t know too much about dyslexia, and I didn’t want to make anything that was insensitive or inaccurate. I hope I’ve been able to do this with sensitivity.
> 
> If I haven’t please tell me and I’ll take it down.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for the prompt. Enjoy.

_This was a mistake,_ Beca thought, looking down at the sheet of paper Aubrey had just handed her. 

Her leg was vibrating and she got that familiar drop in her stomach as she tried to focus on the words on the page in front of her.

“Please make sure this gets filled out and handed back to me by the end of rehearsal,” Aubrey said. 

Beca cast her eyes around the room to see the other girls all writing, and her eyes turned back to her own paper. 

She tried to make herself focus, tried to make herself read each word so she could complete this form, but the words began swimming together as they so often did, and Beca felt herself getting frustrated. She felt the heat of embarrassment on the back of her neck, felt it spread to her face.

 _Focus_ , she told herself. 

But by the time her eyes had travelled to the bottom of the page, she realised she hadn’t taken in a word of it.

“Okay, break’s over!” Aubrey called, and Beca shoved the paper in to her bag. She could complete it tonight and bring it in on their next rehearsal.

The rehearsal went smoothly after that. Beca was grateful she already knew the words to the song they were signing, so she didn’t have to rely on the print-out Chloe had handed her.

“I’ll see you ladies tomorrow morning for our next rehearsal,” Aubrey said, after finally calling an end.

“Tomorrow?” Beca asked. “I have to work tomorrow.”

Aubrey sighed. “What does it say on the whiteboard Beca?” She gestured to the scribbled green ink which supposedly laid out the Bellas’ plans for victory.

Beca looked, and again felt that twist in her stomach. Her mouth went dry and her throat seemed to close up. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it quickly.

“Well?” Aubrey snapped.

“It says a lot of stuff,” Beca replied, her temper getting the better of her. “Tell me which bit is supposed to be important.”

She heard a slow intake of breath coming from the other girls around her.

“You’re a braver woman than I am,” Cynthia Rose muttered.

“We rehearse every day,” Aubrey said, jabbing her finger against the board. 

“Okay,” Beca said. “I’m just saying, I have work tomorrow, could we rehearse after?”

“Sure,” Chloe said, preventing what she knew would be tirade of abuse from Aubrey. “What time do you finish?”

“12 pm,” Beca said.

“Perfect,” Chloe replied, grinning. “We’ll start rehearsals at one, if that’s okay with everyone else?”

Everyone else agreed, and they all began to file out of the auditorium.

“Beca,” Aubrey called, looking down at a stack of papers in her hand. “You didn’t give me your sheet.”

“Oh,” Beca said, wondering once again why she was putting herself through this. “I didn’t finish filling it out. I can bring it tomorrow.”

Aubrey raised her eyebrows. “I said I needed it today.”

“It’s fine, Beca,” Chloe said, cutting Aubrey off again. “Just bring it tomorrow.”

Beca shot Chloe a grateful smile, and headed out of the door.

Back in her dorm room, Beca pulled out the sheet of paper Aubrey had wanted her to fill out. She pulled a notebook out of her bag, and slipped the paper behind the sheet of transparent yellow plastic that was clipped into her notebook.

Slowly, the words began to make sense to her, and she filled out the sheet as best she could.

She filled out her name, date of birth, email address and phone number. She listed her allergies, dietary requirements, and gave her clothing sizes so they could order a Bellas uniform for her.

At the end there was a box asking if there was anything else the co-captains needed to be aware of. If there was any medical conditions or disabilities or even learning difficulties that would impact Beca’s ability to rehearse or perform, and if there were any special requirements that they could put in place to help her.

Beca had a suspicion this question had been put in by Chloe.

She tapped her pen against the page, chewing her bottom lip as she thought.

Then she folded the paper in half, and slipped it back into her bag, deciding they didn’t need to know. 

After, she spent some time listening to a lecture she’d recorded that morning. She opened up a word document, and made notes of time codes of when her professor talked about something she’d need later, so she’d be able to find it when studying.

By the time she was finished, her eyes were burning and her head was aching. She shut the screen of her laptop, lay back in bed, and found her thoughts landing on Chloe. She couldn’t help but smile.

The redhead had protected her against Aubrey’s wrath in rehearsal. She had looked out for her at the hood night party, making sure she was okay and that she wasn’t getting bothered by Trebles or frat boys.

She knew if there was anyone she could trust with her secret, it would be Chloe.

Without meaning to, her mind wandered to that night in the shower, and she felt her cheeks burn.

She put on some music, and tried to forget about how good Chloe had looked. How good she had sounded.

When that didn’t work, she sat back at her desk, and pulled up her mixing software.

This she knew how to do.

Where words made her feel frustrated and embarrassed, music made her feel free. She understood the waveforms of a sound better than the she would ever understand a written word.

As the two tracks began to blend together, she forgot about everything else.

Everything… except Chloe.

* * *

“Have you got your form?” Aubrey asked as Beca filed into rehearsal the next afternoon.

Beca pulled the folded sheet from her bag and handed it over.

“Thank you,” Aubrey said, her eyes scanning the page to make sure she hadn’t missed a question. “You were born in 1999?”

“’96,” Beca said.

“Ah ha,” Aubrey said, correcting the form with her pen. “And you’re allergic to ‘dees’?”

A rush of heat travelled up Beca’s back, across her neck and made its way to her face in seconds.

“Bees,” she muttered.

She waited for Aubrey’s snarky comment that she knew must be coming. Waited for that cruel laughter from the other girls that she had heard so often at school. 

No laughter came however, and after correcting the spelling error on her form, Aubrey dropped it onto the pile with the other girls’. 

Feeling rattled and on edge, Beca went the rest of rehearsal without drawing attention to herself.

She didn’t bite back at Aubrey when she made comments about Beca’s dance ability, or her ‘ear monstrosities’, and she didn’t complain about the outdated song or the lame choreography. When Fat Amy showed her a string of messages on her phone from some guy she was seeing, Beca just smiled and nodded rather than try and struggle through reading them, and she kept just as quiet when Jessica and Ashley started a heated debate about which Hogwarts house was the best.

“You’re quiet today Bec,” Cynthia Rose said as they started packing up to leave. “Everything good?”

“Yeah,” Beca said, surprised she had noticed. “It’s just, you know, a lot. Not used to being around this many people with such strong Harry Potter opinions.”

Cynthia Rose smiled, and nudged her. “Us Slytherins gotta stick together, right?” 

“Aren’t they the bad guys?”

Cynthia Rose laughed again and shook her head. “Only if you listen to JKR, and she doesn’t know shit.”

Beca smiled liked she’d understood, and Cynthia Rose left with a wave. She hadn’t read Harry Potter as a child, and had had no desire to read it as a teenager, or watch any of the movies.

She was aware she was missing a world wide phenomenon, but her disdain for popular culture had made it easy for her to pretend that she hadn’t read these books out of choice, and not out of a deep seated fear that she wouldn’t be able to.

It was how she avoided Twilight discussions in high school, when her friends had bombarded her with questions about Edward Vs Jacob. She’d simply replied that it was all lame, and they’d stopped asking for her opinions. 

Beca hadn’t realised she’d gotten lost in her own head again, and was simply staring into space, half-way through packing up to leave.

“Earth to Beca?” Chloe said, waving a hand in front of her.

“Sorry,” Beca said, shaking her head slightly.

“Did you go somewhere nice?” Chloe asked. Beca tilted her head in confusion. Chloe tapped her on the forehead. “When you disappeared up there.”

“Oh,” Beca said, laughing. “There’s nothing nice up there, trust me.” She slung her bag over her shoulder.

“You did good today,” Chloe said, walking with Beca as they left the auditorium,

“You’re a very sweet liar,” Beca scoffed.

“You did! I know Aubrey gave you a hard time, but she’s just really obsessive. She wants us to be perfect. She wants to redeem herself,” Chloe said.

“I guess I’d want that too,” Beca replied, remembering the video she’d watched of Aubrey’s last Bellas performance.

“What are you up to right now?” Chloe asked as they walked.

“Nothing,” Beca said. 

“You wanna grab dinner?”

“Sure,” Beca replied, trying to stop her grin from overtaking her face.

They arrived at a diner, and the waitress who seated them handed Beca a menu.

She gave it a cursory glance, recognised they sold burgers, and put the menu down.

Chloe studied it for a little longer, her bottom lip caught in her teeth as she read down the list. She glanced up at Beca. “Do I get cheese fries or sweet potato fries?”

“Is that even a question?”

“You’re right,” Chloe said, looking back down. “Cheese fries. Always cheese fries.”

Beca laughed.

“What are we having then?” The waitress asked, holding out a notepad.

“BLT with a side order of cheese fries, please,” Chloe said, still looking down at her menu. “Oh, and a strawberry milkshake.”

“Can I get a burger with fries and a coke please?” Beca asked.

“What kind of burger?”

“Sorry?”

“We have like five different kinds,” the waitress said, pointing to the burger section on the menu.

“Right,” Beca said, a nervous laugh escaping her as she looked at the menu, trying to make sense of the words that were now jumbling together.

“Can you give us another minute to decide?” Chloe asked, when enough time had elapsed for the waitress to begin to look impatient. 

Beca’s cheeks were burning when she felt Chloe tap her foot with her own. 

“You want me to tell you what kind they have?” Chloe asked.

“I can read them,” Beca said, her voice coming out harsher than she’d intended. “I’m not stupid.”

“I know that,” Chloe said. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to help.”

Beca sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.” She rubbed her hand against her forehead. 

“I didn’t mean to imply you were stupid, or that you couldn’t read,” Chloe said. “I’m sorry if I’m out of line here, but… You’re dyslexic, right?”

Beca’s head shot up. “How did you…”

“My brother is, and my dad,” Chloe said. “You mixed up your d’s and b’s and your 9’s and 6’s on your information sheet. You looked like you were struggling to fill it in during rehearsal, which is why I’m guessing you took it home? And when Aubrey asked you to read something from the whiteboard, you got kinda defensive.”

Beca ran a hand through her hair. “You’re pretty observant,” she said.

“You can call it like it is, I’m a bit of a creep,” Chloe said, smiling when she heard Beca laugh. “You don’t need to be embarrassed about it, it’s pretty common.”

“That didn’t stop me from getting teased in school when I couldn’t read aloud or when I failed every spelling test. The fact that it’s common didn’t stop my dad from calling me stupid every chance he got, or stop my teachers saying I needed to try harder or -” she swallowed, trying not to cry, “or saying I was _slow_.”

“They shouldn’t have said that,” Chloe said, her voice soft. “None of them should have said any of that.” She took Beca’s hand, and then saw the waitress making her way over. “What kind of burger do you want?”

“Cheese and bacon?”

“BBQ sauce?”

“No,” Beca said, pulling a face.

“She’ll have the classic with bacon, thanks,” Chloe said, before the waitress could ask.

“With fries?”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Thank you,” she added, once the waitress had left.

“You shouldn’t feel ashamed about needing help, Beca. People need help with all kinds of things, nobody is born perfect,” Chloe said.

“Easy for you to say,” Beca said. “Look at you.”

Chloe cocked her head. “I had to wear headgear at school, because my teeth were overcrowded and my jaw was misaligned. I had to wear it for three years, can you imagine how often I got picked on for that? My lab partner Joe had scoliosis as a kid, so he had to wear a back brace. My sister had to wear a patch to correct a lazy eye. My brother, my dad, my uncle, my bio professor, all have dyslexia. Aubrey’s brother has ADHD. My mom had bi-polar,” Chloe said, her voice taking on a kind of fierceness as she listed these people off. “Everyone needs help with something, and receiving it isn’t a sign of weakness. It isn’t something you should feel embarrassed about.”

Beca looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know dyslexia is common. I know I shouldn’t feel embarrassed about it, but I do. I can just remember being a kid and having to stand in front of a class, trying to read out loud. The other kids would giggle and sometimes the teacher would too. They’d shove books at me, or write mean stuff on notes, and tell me to read them.” Beca wiped away a stray tear. “And my dad…” She shook her head. “Well… the less said about him the better.”

Chloe squeezed her hands again. “You don’t have to make life harder for yourself by refusing to let people help you. I’m sorry that you had to go through all that growing up, but the Bellas aren’t going to be like that. Aubrey will understand if you need lyrics sheets to be printed on different paper or with a different font. She’ll get it if you’d rather we told you information instead of writing it down for you to read it.” Beca scoffed again. “Beca, she _knows_. The second she saw your d’s and b’s mixed up, she understood. She can be a bit intense, but she isn’t a cruel person. Why do you think we put that question on the form?”

“I figured you put it there,” Beca mumbled.

Chloe shook her head. “It was her idea. I agreed, obviously, but she thought of it. Look, I won’t tell anyone about this. I won’t even confirm Aubrey’s suspicions. But I promise, only good things will come of you being open with us. Won’t it be easier to not have to hide this?”

“Yeah,” Beca said, still looking uncomfortable. “That’ll be good. But… I”m just not good at sharing. I’m not good at being open and vulnerable.”

“What if I told them?”

Beca met her eyes and nodded, ever so slightly, and the waitress brought over their food.

“Okay,” Chloe said. “I’ll take care of it. We don’t have to talk about this heavy stuff anymore.”

“Thank you,” Beca said, feeling like a weight had been lifted. “Oh, by the way, when I called you perfect earlier? I was trying to flirt with you.”

Chloe grinned. “I know you were.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you @snowonebutyou for the prompt bechloe + firsts (kiss, fight, ily). 
> 
> Originally posted 28th June 2020

Beca felt like she was dreaming when her lips brushed against Chloe’s. 

Maybe she was?

When Chloe had bust into her dorm room, Beca hadn’t slept in over 24 hours. She had been pouring herself into creating the song for the ICCA’s final.

The Bellas had trusted her with this. Aubrey had _finally_ admitted that Beca might know what she’s talking about.

She couldn’t let them down.

Chloe had forced her to take a break, had physically pulled her away from her desk and made her sit on the bed.

“I’m not letting you kill yourself over this,” Chloe said, worried she might have to actually restrain Beca to stop her from working. 

“I just want the song to be good,” Beca said, rubbing at her tired eyes. “I don’t want to let you guys down.”

“Oh Becs. You’d _never_ let us down. We’re a family, we have your back no matter what,” Chloe said, tucking a strand of Beca’s hair behind her ear. 

Beca closed her eyes at the contact. It would be so easy to give in and fall asleep. She pulled her eyes open. She still had work to do.

Chloe seemed to sense that Beca was about to move back to her computer, so she rested her hands on her shoulders.

“You’re so talented, I know whatever you’ve made will be perfect,” Chloe said. 

“You’re perfect,” Beca said, the words slipping out before she could stop them. 

“I’ll chalk that up to the sleep deprivation,” Chloe said, laughing lightly. 

She kissed her on the cheek, and then Beca turned her head.

Chloe swallowed slightly, her eyes dropping to Beca’s lips.

“Beca?”

“Chloe.”

“Is this what you want?”

Beca answered by brushing her lips against Chloe’s.

“I like you,” Beca said, leaning forward to kiss her again.

“I like you too,” Chloe replied, kissing her back, cupping her face in her hands. She could tell Beca was struggling to hold back a yawn. Her eyes desperate to close. “You need to get some rest, though.”

Beca laughed and nodded. “Will you stay?”

“Of course,” Chloe said. “I need to make sure you don’t touch that computer again.”

* * *

“I thought we were passed this,” Chloe said, trying not lose her temper as she watched Beca stuff clothes into her bag.

“Passed what?” Beca replied.

“You running away when things get hard,” Chloe said. 

Beca laughed, but there wasn’t any humour in it. “That’s what you think I’m doing?”

“I know you didn’t want to come, but the Bellas need this. _We_ need this. We need to find our sound again,” Chloe said, holding Beca’s wrist to stop her from packing. 

Beca pulled her hand out of Chloe’s grasp. “Jesus, enough! Look, Chloe, I love the Bellas, okay? But I can’t throw my future away for something that’s going to be over in a few months.” Beca’s voice caught in her throat as she realised just how soon their time in college was ending. She shook her head, pushing away a sudden need to cry. “I have stuff I need to do.”

“I never asked you to throw your future away,” Chloe said, who had given up on trying to fight her own tears. 

“No, but you asked me to put the Bellas before everything else. I don’t wanna disappoint anyone, Chlo’, but I have nothing left to give them. I’m graduating in three months, and I need to get ready for what comes next.” Beca let out a groan of frustration. “An actual legit music producer wants to hear my stuff, and instead of working on that I’m here in the middle of fucking nowhere.”

“So why didn’t you tell me? I’m supposed to be your girlfriend, why don’t you ever talk to me about this stuff?”

“Because the only thing you care about is the Bellas!” Beca said, finally snapping. 

The look of hurt on Chloe’s face was more than she could take, so she turned away and carried on packing.

“Is that what you really think?” Chloe asked, her voice quiet.

“You intentionally failed school three times so you could stay with the Bellas,” Beca said.

“I failed so I could stay with you.”

Beca stopped packing and turned around.

“You… what?”

“I didn’t want to leave college because I didn’t want to leave you,” Chloe said. “You think the Bellas is the only thing I care about? Really? After everything we’ve been through?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought it was obvious,” Chloe said. “I thought my feelings about you were pretty fucking obvious.” Chloe ran a hand through her hair, willing herself to stop crying. “I know the real world is coming, Beca. I know in a few months it won’t matter if we win or lose or whatever. But the Bellas were the first real friends I ever had. The first real family I ever had. They helped me meet you, they… They helped make me who I am. Is it really so wrong of me to want to make them last as long as I can? Is it wrong of me to want them to carry on after we leave? In a few months, I won’t live with my friends anymore. I won’t get to rehearse with them and perform with them. And… and I don’t know what will happen with us. Why can’t I live in this world for as long as I can? Why can’t I be happy for as long as I can?”

Beca didn’t have an answer.

“You do what you need to do, Beca,” Chloe said. As she turned to walk away, Beca took her hand.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “The Bellas mean everything to me. _You_ mean everything to me. I’m just scared that I’m not cut out for the real world. I’m scared about what comes next.”

“I know,” Chloe said. 

“I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to walk out on the Bellas… On you… I just don’t know what to do. I’m freaking out because this producer guy hates my mashups and this feels like my chance, you know? He wants to hear something original from me, and I don’t have anything to show.”

“Hey,” Chloe said, softly. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. You might think you’ve got nothing, but I know better. The Bellas know better. We can figure this out. We have your back no matter what, right?”

Beca nodded and finally let herself cry.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, her voice breaking.

“It’s okay,” Chloe said, pulling her into a hug. “I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you couldn’t share this stuff with me. I didn’t mean to get so laser focused.”

“I love you, you know?”

“I love you too.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> Hmm, what about triple treble and "people are staring"? (if you are comfortable writing this that is)
> 
> Originally posted: 29th March 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not really experienced in polyamory, so if I’ve gotten anything wrong please let me know :)
> 
> Sorry it took so long to get this out, life is a big dumpster fire right now, eh?

“People are staring,” Beca said in a low voice. 

She was walking with Chloe and Aubrey through a busy market in Barden town centre.

It was her first official date, with both of them. And she was nervous.

She had never really considered being in a polyamorous relationship before. She’d had a hard enough time imagining one person being into her enough to date her, let alone two at once.

When she’d fallen for Chloe, she’s assumed it would just be one more on her list of unrequited crushes, especially considering Chloe was already dating Aubrey.

What she hadn’t expected was that she’d start falling for Aubrey too. And that these feelings wouldn’t go away.

So she’d done her best to avoid the two of them which, of course, Chloe wasn’t having any of.

So then she’d had to give a tearful confession where she told Chloe that she was in love with both her and her girlfriend, and for that reason she couldn’t see either of them again, because this was _killing_ her.

She thought that would be the end of it, but no.

Two days later Chloe and Aubrey had turned up at her apartment to tell her that they also had feelings for her. Both of them. And that they were both poly, and wanted to make it work. They wanted all three of them to be in a relationship.

And Beca had needed a few days to think it over, but really, she made her mind up the second Aubrey suggested it.

So now here they were, casually shopping in Barden market before it was time for their movie.

Chloe was holding her hand, which she had been expecting. Chloe had held her hand before they were dating. She held everyone’s hand.

What Beca hadn’t been expecting was that Aubrey would find any excuse to touch her. 

She would put a hand on her back as they walked, or reach out to squeeze her arm, or move some hair from her face. 

It wasn’t that Beca had a problem with it, quite the opposite. Every time Aubrey touched her, or she saw Aubrey touch Chloe, she got this happy somersault in her stomach that reminder that she was _theirs_ and that these girls were _hers._

That didn’t stop her from being paranoid, however. 

“People are staring.”

“They are?” Chloe asked, looking around. She shrugged. “Who cares?” She glanced at Beca who still looked tense and nervous. “Baby, don’t worry about them.”

“What if someone says something? Or does something?”

“Why would anyone say anything?” Chloe asked. “No one can even tell.”

“Becs, if you feel uncomfortable you just have to tell us,” Aubrey said, when Beca still looked anxious. “Chloe won’t get offended if you want to let go of her hand, will you Chlo’?”

“Of course not,” Chloe said. 

“Can we go sit somewhere?” Beca asked. She was starting to feel hot and claustrophobic, and this conversation felt like it was too big to be had surrounded by strangers.

“Sure,” Chloe said. She let go of Beca’s hand but immediately put it on her back to guide her out of the crowds and towards a coffee shop.

When they got inside, Aubrey and Chloe went and ordered while Beca found them a seat. She still felt hot and flustered so she took off her cap and started fanning herself with it.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asked when they returned with some ice-coffees. 

Beca nodded and took a long drink before immediately pulling a face.

“Brain freeze?” Chloe asked suppressing a giggle. “Are you twelve years old now?”

“Shut up,” Beca said, her face scrunched up as she wanted for the pain to pass. 

“So,” Aubrey said, tapping Beca’s leg with her foot, “what’s going on with you?”

“I’m sorry,” Beca said with a sigh. “I’m just… I dunno, this is all new to me. I’ve never even had a girlfriend before, let alone two.” She rubbed her forehead, looked away from the two girls. It was hard enough for her to have a serious conversation without crying, and them looking at her with such softness in their eyes didn’t help. “I grew up in a pretty conservative town. You didn’t get a lot of same-sex couples walking down the street holding hands. I’m just scared that someone will see the three of us being together and… I just don’t want you guys to get hurt.”

Chloe and Aubrey simultaneously reached across the table and took one of her hands each. Beca had to laugh. 

“We aren’t going to get hurt,” Chloe said, softly. “Barden isn’t like that.”

“And I know it might feel like people are staring,” Aubrey added. “It might feel like the eyes of every person around you is watching, but I promise they aren’t. When Chloe and I first started dating, I was scared too. I wouldn’t even hold her hand or anything in public for like the first two months. I was raised in a very conservative family, and I was really scared we’d get harassed or something for being couple-y in public. But then I realised that no one cares and no one’s looking. People are too wrapped up in their own shit to care about what we’re doing.”

Beca smiled and finally met their eyes. “I’m sorry for freaking out. I wanna hold hands and be all…open and stuff with you guys in public. I just need you to be patient with me.”

“Of course Beca,” Chloe said. “We’d never want you to feel uncomfortable, and you don’t have to apologise for anything.”

“You just need to tell us what you need,” Aubrey said. “We love you, we’d do anything to make you feel safe and happy.”

“I love you guys too,” Beca said, unable to stop herself from grinning. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> 24\. You’re trembling 🥺 thank you!
> 
> Originally posted: 24th March 2020

“You’re trembling,” Chloe said softly, tucking a stand of Beca’s hair behind her ear.

“Yeah,” Beca laughed, “I guess I’m nervous?”

“You’ve never done this before?”

“I have, just…”

“Not with a girl?”

“Right,” Beca said, letting out another nervous laugh.

“We don’t have to do this you know,” Chloe said, resting her hand on Beca’s and squeezing it. “We can wait, I’m not in any rush.”

“It’s not that I don’t _want_ to,” Beca said. “I’m just… not ready.”

“Then we’ll wait until you are,” Chloe said, leaning to kiss Beca on the forehead. 

Beca let out a shaky laugh, and Chloe was relieved to see her relax.

“Thank you,” Beca said.

“You don’t have to thank me, Beca,” Chloe said. “I’d never want you to do something you weren’t comfortable with.”

Beca smiled sadly, and looked away. “I wish more people had your attitude.”

“Becs?” Chloe’s brow was furrowed in concern as she gently tilted Beca’s chin up. “Did… Did something happen?”

“Not really,” Beca said. “A boyfriend in high school sort of… He didn’t force me or anything, but he just didn’t really care if I was comfortable.” 

“That’s… I’m sorry Beca, that’s really fucked up,” Chloe said, feeling anger rise inside her. 

“I never said no,” Beca said. “He never… You know… I always agreed to it, I guess I just hoped he’d realise I wasn’t into it and he’d stop.”

“Well you’ll never have to worry about that with me,” Chloe said, pulling her into a hug. 

“I know. I love you.”

“I love you too.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> For the prompt thing: 8. I've been waiting for a long time. Bechloe, in which Chloe finally realizes that shes in love with beca and beca has just been waiting for her this whole time.
> 
> Originally posted: 24th March 2020

“I’ve been waiting a long time,” Beca whispered, her forehead pressed against Chloe’s. “I’ve been waiting so long.” She swallowed and blinked and the tears that had gathered in her eyelashes fell. “I’ve been waiting my whole fucking life for you, Chloe Beale.”

Chloe surged forward and kissed her. 

“You should have said,” Chloe said, when they finally broke apart, breathless. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“If you’d said no…” Beca laughed and shook her head. “It would have destroyed me, Chloe. It would have ended me.”

“I wouldn’t have said no,” Chloe said, kissing her again. “I could never say no to you.”

“I couldn’t risk it,” Beca said between kisses. “I couldn’t risk losing you. I love you. With every bit of me.”

“I love you too,” Chloe said. 

They kissed for what felt like hours, before they lay together, curled up on their shared bed in their tiny Brooklyn apartment.

Being in love with Chloe had nearly killed Beca in college, but sharing this tiny space with her for the past year had been beyond endurance.

“How long?” Chloe asked.

“Since, like, my second year of college. I got sick and you brought me soup and kept me company all day. It was like the nicest thing any one had ever done for me.”

“Oh Beca,” Chloe said, pulling her closer. “I’m so sorry baby.”

“It isn’t your fault,” Beca said. “It doesn’t matter how long it took, I’m just glad we got here.”

“Was I worth the wait?” Chloe asked, shifting slightly so she was propped up on her elbow, looking down at Beca.

“Of course you were. I’d wait a thousand years for you.” 

Chloe smiled, and kissed her. “That was super cheesy.”

“I know,” Beca said, grinning. “Look what you’ve done to me.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> foultastemakerchaos asked:  
> Let's go with "I've missed this." :)
> 
> Originally posted: 22nd March 2020

“I’ve missed this,” Beca murmured, her head on Chloe’s chest as they lay on the reclined sofa together, their legs stretched out in front of them. A movie was playing in the background, but Beca was having trouble staying awake to watch it.

“Missed what?” Chloe replied, her hand running through Beca’s hair.

“This,” Beca said. “You. Us.” 

Chloe smiled. “I missed you too.” She kissed Beca’s head. “I’m really glad you’re home.”

“Me too,” Beca replied. “I hate being on tour.”

“No you don’t,” Chloe said, laughing softly. “You love performing.”

“But I hate travelling. I hate flying, I hate hotels, I hate being away from you.” Beca squeezed her tighter. “I can’t sleep without you.”

“It’s done now, baby,” Chloe said. “No more travelling for a while.” She had missed this side of Beca that no one else got to see. The side that was completely vulnerable and open and endlessly loving. 

“Why can’t I just perform in L.A. instead of touring? Is it so much to ask that people just travel from all over the world to see me so I don’t have to go to them?”

Chloe laughed. “Not at all unreasonable. I honestly think your fans are just lazy.”

“Right? Would it kill them to hop on a plane and book a hotel?”

“One day, when you’re as big as Brittany Spears, you can get a residency in Vegas and your fans will come to you,” Chloe said.

“But then we’d have to live in _Vegas_. Screw that. One day I’m gonna retire from music and we’re gonna move to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. The paps won’t be able to find us, and we can just have a nice normal life with our twelve dogs,” Beca said.

“Only twelve?”

“Yeah, I don’t want it to be crazy, you know?”

“Totally,” Chloe said, laughing. “I don’t think you’ll be able to retire from music though. You love it too much.”

“Not all of it. I love making music and I love performing music. But the fame thing? The touring, the interviews, the paparazzi? I can live without those,” Beca said. 

“I know,” Chloe said with a sigh. And she did know. 

It was hard to watch Beca on TV being interviewed, and being able to see the fear and exhaustion in her eyes. It was hard walking down the street and getting followed by the flashing lights of photographers. She hated seeing the toll all this took on her wife. She hated seeing the gossip stories in the magazines, and the cruel messages she got on twitter and instagram. 

“If things are getting too much again, you know we can speak to the label about you taking a break, right? Your album came out last year and you’ve just finished a six month tour, you can take a break,” Chloe said adjusting her position so she could see Beca more clearly.

“I know,” Beca said, trying to smile. “But no big decisions or discussions tonight, okay? I’m just really tired.”

“We can turn in if you want you know? I’ve seen this movie before.”

“No,” Beca replied. “I’m good. I just wanna lie here with you.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, lying back down so Beca could get comfortable. “But if you fall asleep I’m not carrying you up to bed.”

“We’ll see,” Beca said, grinning as she cuddled in further and let her eyes close.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> Mitchsen + 5?;))
> 
> (5 in this case referred to the prompt "Why are you helping me?"
> 
> Originally posted: 22nd March 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t usually write Mitchsen, and I don’t know if this is any good but here you go :) thank you for the prompt!

“Why are you helping me?” Aubrey asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Beca paused. An armful of books was pressed against her chest while her other hand held a bag filled with groceries. Then she shrugged.

“Why wouldn’t I help you?” Beca asked, dumping the books onto the coffee table. “I feel bad for you and your broken ankle. I’m gonna put these away.” She gestured to the bag before heading into Aubrey’s kitchen and putting away the groceries. 

She returned to the living room where Aubrey was sitting, still staring, her foot propped up on the coffee table, a bandage around her ankle. Beca tossed a bag of peanut M&Ms into her lap.

“You need anything else?” Beca asked. Aubrey didn’t answer but looked, if possible, even more suspicious. “What?”

“We aren’t friends. You don’t like me. What. Are. You. Doing?”

“You think I don’t like you?” Beca asked, genuinely surprised. “You might be a crazy-intense perfectionist who cares way to much about a cappella, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you. And we’re totally friends. You might have missed that happening while you were constantly giving me death stares and yelling about my dancing but, yeah, we’re friends dude.”

“So… So you’re just being… nice?” Aubrey asked, her demeanour switching from suspicious to confused.

“I guess?” Beca replied. “Why are you being weird about this?”

“I’ve just never seen this side of you,” Aubrey said. Beca didn’t know how to reply so just shrugged. “It’s a good thing. You’re usually an asshole.”

“Gee thanks,” Beca said, rolling her eyes and sitting down.

“I’m just surprised, that’s all. Like… you brought me groceries and books I needed from the library and I didn’t even have to ask. It’s really sweet, and thoughtful. You’re not usually the sweet one,” Aubrey said.

“Dude you’re making it seem like I’m a total dick,” Beca said, with a laugh that didn’t reach her eyes. 

She had to admit, her feelings were kind of hurt that Aubrey thought this was the first time Beca had done something nice for her. It made her feel like Aubrey hadn’t been paying attention to her over the last year. 

She thought they’d been growing closer. She thought… 

“What’s wrong?” Aubrey asked, and Beca realised she had been staring into space.

“Nothing,” Beca said. “I should go.”

“Oh, okay. You don’t have to you know?” Aubrey said.

“Yeah no, I know, it’s fine. I’ve got some work to do. Those songs aren’t gonna remix themselves,” Beca said, standing. “Um feel better and, yeah, call me if you need anything.”

Beca hurried out of the apartment and Aubrey was once again confused. Beca’s demeanour had changed so quickly, she was trying to figure out what she’d said to cause it. 

She looked down at the bag of peanut M&Ms in her lap. They were her favourites. Had she ever told Beca that? Or had Beca just noticed?

She thought back to what she’d said about Beca not usually being the sweet one. Which is correct. Beca Mitchell wasn’t sweet. You could ask anyone. Even number-one-Beca-Mitchell-fan Chloe Beale couldn’t argue that Beca was _sweet_.

But Beca seemed to have been hurt by that comment. Or maybe it was that Aubrey suggested she wasn’t thoughtful?

Which, now Aubrey thinks about it, is stupid. Beca was super thoughtful.

She knew how Aubrey liked her tea, and how crispy to cook her bacon. She knew not to put shellfish in any meal she made them, because Aubrey was allergic. Beca knew that if Aubrey had coffee after 3pm, she wouldn’t sleep well so she always got her decaf. Aubrey hadn’t ever asked her to do that, she just knew.

Beca knew a lot about her.

And Aubrey was starting to feel like an idiot. 

She had told Beca she wasn’t thoughtful. That they weren’t friends and they didn’t even like each other.

How had they become friends without Aubrey even realising it?

Did she know things about Beca?

With a jolt in her stomach, she realised she did.

And she realised something else too.

She grabbed her phone and called the only person who knew her better than she knew herself.

Chloe answered on the third ring.

“Hey ‘Bree! What’s up? How’s the ankle?”

“Chloe Beale, do I like Beca? Like do I _like_ like her? Am I into Beca?” Aubrey asked.

“Duh,” Chloe responded. 

“Chloe!”

“Are you really only just figuring this out now? You’re so obviously into each other! You could see it from space! Fat Amy can see it, and she still thinks _Stacie_ is straight!” Chloe said, her voice incredulous.

“Oh my god!” There was a knock at the door. “I have to go, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Tell Beca I said hi!” Chloe said before the call ended. 

“It’s open!” Aubrey yelled, not wanting to get up and hobble to the door.

The door opened and closed and the Beca was dropping into the sofa next to her chair.

“You think I don’t care about you,” Beca said. It was a statement, not a question.

“No, I don’t think that. I’m sorry about before. Beca, you’re like the most thoughtful person I know. I don’t know why I said that,” Aubrey said, still trying to process this new information she had just learned about herself.

“You still see me as bratty Beca Mitchell who’s this big closed off asshole. You think I’m still the girl I was in first year when I was defensive and… and angry,” Beca said, and Aubrey was startled to see tears in her eyes. “I haven’t been that girl for years, Aubrey.”

“I know that-”

“No you don’t. You didn’t even realise we were friends,” Beca said. “Do I just… not exist to you? Am I not even on your radar enough for you to see that I really fucking care about you?”

“I’m sorry, Beca,” Aubrey said. “Look, for what it’s worth, I’m bad at this, okay? I’m bad at friendships. Chloe was my roommate in freshman year, and it took me a full year to realise that _she_ liked me. _Chloe._ My parents never show affection and I have a super competitive relationship with my brother. I can’t… When someone is nice to me, I’m suspicious. I don’t know how to… process these emotions. Chloe can back me up on this.”

Beca let out a small laugh, and it gave Aubrey hope that she hand’t ruined this. “Chloe did back you up. I called her after I left and she told me. She also told me to come back here and talk it out.”

And then Aubrey laughed. “I called her too. She told me to tell you she said hi.”

“She shouldn’t be allowed to go on vacation for this long. Us two emotionally stunted disasters can’t communicate without her,” Beca said, sniffing and wiping her eyes. 

“I’m sorry I made you feel like you weren’t important to me. You are, Beca. And I’m sorry I said we weren’t friends,” Aubrey said. She reached out her hand and Beca took it. “We are friends.”

Beca squeezed her hand. “And… And what if I said I wanted to be more than that?” 

“I would say that I also want that,” Aubrey said. 

When Beca’s face broke into a grin, Aubrey felt something tugging at her heart that was almost painful.

“Yeah?” Beca asked.

“Yeah,” Aubrey replied, tugging Beca’s hand so she would come close enough for her to kiss her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is in 2 parts - 
> 
> Part one was originally posted on 24th November 2019 and was based on this prompt:  
> Anonymous asked:  
> If you’re still taking prompts what about one where Beca finds out she has a heart condition and without a transplant could/will die, so rather than fighting for Chloe she lets her go so that she can have a happy life with Chicago. Only Aubrey, who Beca confided in, can’t bring herself to keep the secret from Chloe knowing that her best friend has been in love with Beca for several years. Refusing to deny Chloe the chance of being with the one she really wants, she tells her the truth.
> 
> Part two was originally posted on 26th November 2019 and was based on this prompt:  
> Anonymous asked:  
> That heart transplant fic 😭 that got me right in the feels 😩. Please do a follow up. I need to know what happens with Chloe and Beca’s relationship now that they’re together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Major character death.

**Part One**

Beca pulled out her phone as soon as she climbed into the back of the Uber, her other hand running absentmindedly against her chest, as if she could massage away the constant ache that was there.

“Patient or visitor?” The driver asked.

“Sorry?” Beca asked, tearing her eyes away from her phone. 

“I picked you up from the hospital. Are you a patient or a visitor?”

“Uh, neither,” Beca said, lying easily as she looked back at her phone. “My friend works there and I met her for lunch.”

“Oh cool,” he said. “What does your friend do?”

Beca tried not to roll her eyes. “Cardiologist,” she replied. 

“Cool, cool,” he said, nodding. “So, you single?”

“I have a girlfriend,” she said, lying again. “Am I cool to make a call?”

“Oh, yeah no problem,” he said, sounding disappointed.

She hadn’t planned on calling anyone now, but she didn’t want to deal with the nosey Uber driver for much longer. So she called Chloe and, of course, the redhead answered almost immediately.

“Hey!” Came Chloe’s bubbly voice on the other end of the phone. “How are you?”

“Uh, yeah I’m alright. Listen, are you free tonight?” Beca asked, her stomach twisting slightly as she crossed her fingers hoping Chloe would say yes.

“No, sorry, I’m out with Chicago tonight,” Chloe replied, sounding genuinely sorry. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason. I just felt like going for a drink,” Beca said, heart sinking. “Have a good night.”

“Will do, thanks.” Chloe paused. “Are you okay? You sound weird.”

“Yeah I’m fine. I’d better go but I’ll talk to you later, yeah?” Beca said. 

“Okay sure,” Chloe said. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Beca hung up the phone and sat back in her seat, looking out the window. 

A jolt of pain shot through her chest again and she winced. 

She’d been hoping to tell Chloe tonight. She had a lot of stuff she needed to tell Chloe.

She picked up her phone again and called Aubrey.

Ever since the blonde had moved to New York a few months ago, the two had gotten close. They’d previously only spent time together outside of the Bellas because they had a mutual love of Chloe’s company. When Chloe started spending more of her time with Chicago, Beca and Aubrey just started hanging out together.

“Hello Beca.”

“Hey Aubrey. What are you doing right now?” Beca said, realising she couldn’t wait until tonight. 

“Nothing really, just working from home. What’s up?” Aubrey asked.

“Can you come over?” 

There must have been something in Beca’s voice, because Aubrey didn’t question her further. She just said “sure, see you in like 30 minutes” before ending the call.

The car pulled up outside Beca’s Brooklyn apartment, and she got out after shooting a quick “thanks” to the driver. 

She paced her tiny apartment until she heard Aubrey’s sharp and familiar knock against her door.

“Hey,” she said, letting Aubrey in. 

“Hi,” Aubrey said, looking concerned. “What’s going on?”

“Um… I don’t really know how to say it,” Beca said, running a hand through her hair. The pain in her chest was increasing her anxiety even more. 

“Sit down,” Aubrey said. Beca sat on the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands. “Take a deep breath and just tell me when you’re ready.”

Beca nodded put kept her head in her hands.

“I’ve been to the hospital,” she said, not looking at Aubrey. “I’ve… They just diagnosed me with a heart condition.”

“Shit,” Aubrey breathed out. She sat beside Beca on the bed and put a hand on her leg, which had been bouncing up and down. “So, what does this mean?”

“Well they told me a lot of scary shit but essentially I…” She swallowed hard, her voice shaking slightly. “I need a transplant.” 

“Jesus, Beca,” Aubrey said. “Did… Did they say how long you can wait?”

“About a year, give or take a few months,” Beca said, and she heard Aubrey let out a shaky breath beside her. 

“I’m so sorry Beca. This… This really fucking sucks.”

Beca let out a teary laugh. “It really fucking does.”

“But we’re gonna be here for you, you know that right? All of us,” Aubrey said. “You’ll just have to be careful when you tell Chloe, she’s probably gonna try and buy you a heart on the black market or something.”

Beca’s stomach twisted at the thought of telling Chloe. 

“Aubrey… Chloe… I’m… I’m in love with her,” Beca said, finally spilling the secret she’d held onto for years. 

“I know, Becs,” Aubrey said, sadly. “You know, you should tell her. She might… reciprocate.”

Beca laughed again but this time without humour. She shook her head.

“I’m not doing that to her. She’s happy with Chicago. They’re engaged for fucks sake. They live together. I’m not telling her ‘oh I’m in love with you and by the way I have about a year to live.’ Even if she does feel the same, I’m not gonna put her through that. She has a chance to be happy with Chicago and I’m not gonna ruin it.”

“Beca you should let that be her decision,” Aubrey said, her heart breaking slightly. 

Beca shook her head again. “I’m not doing it. Even if I get the transplant and it’s a complete success, it’ll give me maybe another 8 or 9 years if I’m lucky. Best case scenario, I’ll make it to my 30s and she’ll have to start over again. You can’t tell her, Aubrey. Promise me.”

Aubrey sighed. “I promise.”

Aubrey stayed and talked with Beca for a few more hours before leaving her to get some rest.

Having talked and cried for hours with Aubrey, Beca was exhausted. She changed and crawled into bed and fell asleep almost immediately, trying not to think about the ticking time bomb in her chest.

It felt like seconds later that Beca heard a knock at her door, but when she jolted awake the room was dark. She checked her phone and saw it was 9pm. They knocked again.

“Just a sec,” she called, flicking on a lamp before answering the door. Chloe was standing there with a worried expression. “What’s up?” Beca asked, stepping aside to let her in.

“You sounded weird on the phone earlier,” Chloe said. 

“I thought you were going out with Chicago tonight?” Beca asked rubbing her eyes to wake herself up.

“We were out, but I was worried about you,” Chloe said. “I asked him to drop me off on the way home.”

“Oh, you should have just called, I’m fine. I feel like you’ve had a wasted journey,” Beca said, her stomach twisting again at the lie.

“Beca,” Chloe sighed. “Come on. This is me you’re talking to, remember? I know when something’s wrong.”

“Have you spoken to Aubrey?” Beca asked, worrying about what the blonde might have told her.

“No? Should I have?” Chloe asked. Her confusion seemed genuine and Beca felt a small wash of relief.

“No,” Beca said. “She was here earlier, I thought she might have called you.”

“What’s going on Becs?” 

The use of the nickname combined with her soft voice and the scared look on Chloe’s face finally made Beca break. 

Through tears and stops and starts, Beca told Chloe about her appointment with the doctors. About the list of mediation she now had to take. About the length of time she had left unless she got that transplant.

Chloe cried with her, but was far more composed than Beca had expected. Chloe was devastated, but she was also calm and reassuring. 

At one point she sent a text to Chicago to let him know she would’t be home, and she crawled into bed beside Beca. Wrapping her in her arms the way she used to when she still lived there.

“It’s gonna be okay,” she said softly, brushing the hair from her face. “I’m gonna be with you the whole time.”

And to her credit, she was.

She took Beca to all her appointments, and stayed with her no matter how long the wait was.

She helped her keep track of all her medication and drove her to the pharmacy when she needed to get more.

When Beca was too sick to get out of bed, she’d come over and cook for her and stayed until she fell asleep.

And Beca fell more and more in love.

It lead to some heated arguments with Chicago, who felt like Chloe was being taken advantage of, and that she cared more about Beca than about him, but Chloe didn’t care. 

Beca was her best friend, and she loved her.

She really loved her.

When Beca collapsed in the grocery store and was rushed to hospital, Chloe was person they called. She was Beca’s emergency contact.

Aubrey arrived soon after Chloe, and what she saw upon entering Beca’s room broke her heart.

Beca was lying unconscious in the hospital bed, various tubes and wires attached to her. The beeping of her heart on the monitor was erratic, as if it was struggling to carry on beating.

Chloe was beside her, clutching her hand, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I thought she had more time,” Chloe said, her voice breaking. 

Aubrey swallowed the lump in her throat and sat in the empty seat beside Chloe.

“What did the doctor say?”

“She might pull through but,” Chloe sniffed and wiped her eyes, “but this might be it. Even if she does wake up, she needs that transplant soon.”

“Don’t give up on her yet,” Aubrey said, her own tears falling. “She’s strong. She’s stubborn.”

Chloe nodded, and so they waited.

“She’s in love with you, you know,” Aubrey said after a few hours of waiting. It was 11pm and her voice was hoarse and tired. 

Chloe, who had been lightly tracing the tattoo on Beca’s wrist with her finger, froze.

“What?” She whispered.

“Beca’s in love with you. She made me promise not to say but… But I know how you feel about her. I can see it. I can see how much you love her. The way you look at her… the way you talk to her, the way you talk _about_ her. I can see it,” Aubrey said. “I want you to be happy. I want you both to be happy. You don’t love Chicago, not in the same way.”

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Chloe choked out. “We could have been together. We could have had all this time together!”

“Because she’s dying,” Aubrey said. “She thought you were happy with Chicago and she didn’t want to ruin that.”

Chloe shook her head, tears spilling out again. “Why are you telling me now, when it’s too late?”

“I’m sorry,” Aubrey said. “You just… You deserve to know the truth, while she’s still alive. I should have told you sooner but I… I thought she had more time too.”

A man cleared his throat and the two women jumped.

“Sorry to interrupt but, we’re going to need to take her to surgery now.” A man in a white coat was standing by the door and several other doctors and nurses came in. “We found a donor and we have to move quick.”

Chloe didn’t want to let Beca’s hand go, but she knew she had to. She kissed her on the forehead.

“When this is done,” she whispered to her, “when you’re awake, we’re gonna have a talk. I love you.” She straightened up and and watched as they wheeled her away, fear and hope flooding every part of her.

Before he left the doctor told them the surgery would take about four hours, so Aubrey convinced Chloe to go home so she could at least shower and eat. 

Chloe did, and while she was there she broke up with Chicago. Whatever happened with Beca, Chloe knew she couldn’t be with him. Aubrey was right, she didn’t love him like that.

When Aubrey picked her up a two hours later, her eyes were red from crying and she looked as tired as Aubrey felt.

They headed back to the waiting room, and they waited for news.

“Beca Mitchell?” The doctor asked the almost empty waiting room. Chloe and Aubrey jumped up and ran towards him. “You’re here for Ms Mitchell, yes?” They nodded, both too terrified to speak. “This way, please.”

They followed him down a corridor and he gestured towards a window. They looked through and saw Beca sleeping, still attached to various machines. Aubrey couldn’t help but notice that the heart monitor was showing a much more regular beeping.

“It was a success,” he said. “We’re confident the body has accepted the organ. The next few days will be critical, and she’s going to be in the hospital for a few more weeks, but she should make a full recovery.” 

Chloe dissolved into tears, and Aubrey thanked the doctor over and over.

“You can sit with her if you like but don’t expect her to wake up anytime soon,” he said. 

They thanked him again and spent the next few hours sleeping in the chairs beside her bed.

Beca was confused when she woke up, but after everything was explained to her the relief on her face was visible. 

Chloe waited for a few days before broaching the subject of ‘them’. 

Beca was sleeping, so Chloe sat beside her and picked up her hand as she always did, only this time she pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

Beca stirred and opened her eyes, smiling when she saw her.

“Hey,” she said, sleepily. 

“Hey,” Chloe replied. “I want to say something. Something I’ve wanted to say for a very long time.”

“Okay,” Beca said, confused. “Go for it.”

“I love you,” she said. 

“You… Really?”

“Really. I want to be with you.”

“I want to be with you too,” Beca said. “But, you know I’m still… I still don’t have a lot of time. I mean, I might have a year. I might have ten. But I don’t have… forever.”

“No one has forever,” Chloe said, pushing the thought of losing Beca out of her mind. “I want to spend whatever time is left as your girlfriend. I want to spend every minute of it with you.”

“You’re… You’re sure about this?”

“I’ve been in love with you since before we graduated. Since before you kissed Jesse. I don’t want to spend another second not being with you,” Chloe said, tears in her eyes. “If this isn’t what you want then that’s okay, but don’t push me away to try and protect me. I know this is going to be hard. I know we don’t have as much time as we deserve. But that doesn’t stop me from being in love with you.”

“Okay,” Beca said, finally giving in. “Okay, let’s do this.”

And they finally kissed.

* * *

**Part Two**

It was raining the day they said a final goodbye to Beca Beale-Mitchell.

The rain was cold and constant, but that didn’t stop the masses from turning up to her funeral.

Beca’s new heart had given her thirteen extra years. It was more than she could have expected, but it was far less than she deserved. 

Chloe had been preparing for this day for years, but it didn’t make it any easier. 

Her wife, her soul-mate, her best friend, was gone. 

As she watched mourners huddle against the rain, Chloe thought back on the last thirteen years. 

Since the day Beca had left the hospital after her transplant, the two had hardly spent a night apart.

Chloe had been by her side constantly. At every hospital appointment, every meeting with the transplant team, every good and every bad day.

On the one year anniversary of Beca’s new heart, the two had lain in bed, Chloe’s hand lightly brushing the scar on Beca’s chest.

“It’s kinda ugly, huh?” Beca asked, grimacing at the scar.

Chloe shook her head. “It’s beautiful. It’s the reason you’re still here. The reason I can do this.”

She cupped Beca’s face and kissed her softly. 

“I love you,” Beca mumbled, smiling, their lips still barely touching.

“I love you too.”

On the five year anniversary, Chloe proposed. 

They were running down a street in Brooklyn towards a bar while the rain pelted them and the wind chased them.

When they finally made it, they were both soaked, breathless, but laughing hard. 

“Oh my god,” Beca laughed, one hand on her chest as she caught her breath. “Where did that come from? I’m a mess.”

“Shut up, you’re still gorgeous,” Chloe said. Beca rolled her eyes but laughed, her hand still rubbing at her chest. “Are you okay?”

Beca nodded, smiling. “Perfect. Come kiss me.”

Chloe was only to happy to oblige. 

The two sat at the bar, Chloe ordered a vodka soda and Beca just a coke.

“I’m sorry your plan got ruined,” Beca said.

“Ahh it’s okay. I only wanted to have a super romantic picnic in the park. I only spent all morning making snacks,” Chloe said, with a wink.

“Well how about we finish these drinks, head home, spread the blanket in front of the fire and eat snacks until we feel sick?”

So they did. 

Chloe asked Beca to grab her a bag of chips out of the bag and when she turned back around, Chloe was holding a ring.

“Oh my god,” Beca whispered. “Chloe…”

“Marry me,” Chloe replied, her voice just as soft. 

“Chloe… I want you to think about this first.”

“I have thought about it. I’ve thought about it every day since we got together. I am so in love with you and I want to be your wife,” Chloe said, tears in her eyes. 

“I want that too,” Beca said. “But I just want you to be sure you’re ready for this.”

“Beca we’ve been doing this for five years. Things won’t change because we get married.”

“But marriage is forever… It’s for however long I have left. There’s no easy out when things get harder,” Beca said. 

“You think I want an easy out?”

“No,” Beca said with a huff of frustration that she wasn’t explaining herself well enough. “Look…You’re gonna have to plan my funeral. You’ll be a widow.”

“Beca I could walk outside and get hit by a car tomorrow. There are no guarantees in life. The only thing I know for sure is that I love you, and I want to marry you,” Chloe said. “I know you’re trying to protect me, but it’s too late for that. You own every bit of my heart. Whenever… it happens… Whatever we are when it happens… it’s going to destroy me. There’s no protecting me from that. I just want us to be happy with each other for whatever time is left. Will being my wife make you happy?”

“So happy,” Beca said, trying not to cry.

“So let’s do it,” Chloe said, taking Beca’s hand. “Will you marry me?”

“Yeah,” Beca said, her voice catching in her through. She swallowed hard. “I want to marry you.”

Less than a year later they did.

* * *

“Chloe? It’s time to head in,” Aubrey’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. Chloe nodded and the pair headed into the building. “You okay?”

“No,” Chloe said, her voice shaking. 

“Me either,” Aubrey replied, taking Chloe’s hand and squeezing.

“Is Bella with your Mom?” Aubrey asked.

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “She’s a bit confused. She doesn’t… she doesn’t know where her Mom is.”

* * *

On the ten year anniversary of her transplant, Beca and Chloe announced to the rest of the Bellas that Chloe was pregnant.

It had taken a long time for Chloe to convince Beca they should have a kid. Beca was as desperate for one as she was, but she’d put that want aside and tried to be practical.

They talked about it for over a year. Beca was worried she would die, leaving Chloe to be a single parent. She was worried her health would deteriorate and Chloe would end up having to look after her as well as a child. 

And Chloe knew they were all valid points. They were all things she feared too. But she saw that longing in Beca’s eyes every time they babysat for Aubrey, and Chloe felt that need too. 

And eventually Beca agreed. 

And Chloe knew they’d made the right choice when she saw the look on Beca’s face when she held their baby daughter for the first time.

“She’s perfect, Chlo’,” Beca said, tears in her eyes.

“She takes after you,” Chloe had responded, exhausted but happy.

When they hit thirteen years, Beca’s health started to go downhill. 

A few months later, she read their daughter a bed time story and tucked her. She kissed and on the forehead and told her just how much she loved her.

She joined Chloe in the living room, her hand rubbing absentmindedly at her chest, trying to massage away the pain as she so often did.

“Okay babe?” Chloe asked, looking up from her book.

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Just feeling a bit… weird.”

“Shall I call the doctor?”

“No, I’m good baby,” Beca said, kissing her wife on the cheek. “I think I just need an early night.”

“I’ll come with you,” Chloe said.

“You don’t have to,” Beca asked, smiling as Chloe took her hand.

“I want to.”

They changed for bed and Beca curled into Chloe’s side while she carried on reading.

“I love you,” Beca mumbled sleepily, kissing whatever bit of Chloe she could reach without moving. 

“I love you too,” Chloe replied. She had no idea those were the last words she’d ever say to her wife, but at least they were good ones.

Beca didn’t wake up the next morning. At some point in the night, her heart had just… stopped. No fuss, or struggle. Beca hadn’t even stirred. 

Chloe had prepared for this day, but that didn’t stop her desperately shaking her. It didn’t stop her begging and pleading. It didn’t stop her screaming into a pillow so she didn’t wake their daughter.

* * *

“What are you going to tell her?” Aubrey asked as they took their seats.

“I don’t know,” Chloe said. “I can’t really focus on that right now. I just… I just wanna say goodbye to my wife.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, you’re right,” Aubrey said, squeezing her hand again. “Let’s say goodbye.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chloebeale asked:  
> prompt: beca and chloe are dating in secret and they’re trying to convince the bellas they’re not after being called out for obviously leaving the party last night to have sex
> 
> Originally posted: 23rd November 2020

“And where have you two been?”

Beca froze at the front door of the Bella’s house, Chloe just behind her.

The rest of the Bella’s were all sitting in the living room, arms folded, eyebrows raised.

“Uhh… the radio station?” Beca responded, confused.

“The library,” Chloe said, closing the door behind them.

“And you’re arriving home together?” Fat Amy said.

“We bumped into each other on the way home. What’s going on?” Beca asked.

“You guys are being weird,” Chloe added. “How long have you been sitting waiting for us?”

“Several hours,” Ashley muttered.

“That isn’t important,” Amy said, talking over her. “We think… we _know_ … you’re full of shit.”

Beca rolled her eyes and Chloe let out a huff of annoyance. 

“I don’t have time for this,” Beca said. “I have a philosophy paper I need to finish.”

“Here’s a philosophical question,” Amy said. “Where did you two disappear to last night?”

“That’s not a philosophical question, that’s just a question. Did you go to any of ‘Intro to Philosophy’ classes last year?” 

“Shh,” Amy said, standing up. “We’re talking about your failings right now.” 

“Failings?”

“Shh,” Amy said again, squishing Beca’s cheeks between her hands.

“Chloe what’s happening?” Beca whispered.

“Amy can you just get to the point?” Chloe asked.

“I called the radio station, so I know you weren’t there,” Amy said.

“Why would you call the radio station?”

“Sometimes I like to call and listen to Luke freak out on the other end when all he hears is heavy breathing-”

“-Oh my god, that was _you_?!-”

“-and I heard him say,” she carried on as if there’d been no interruption, “‘Jesse, that pervert is on the phone again.’”

“Okay? And?”

“If Jesse was there, that means you weren’t. You get so awkward around Jesse ever since you guys broke up, so I know you make sure you guys don’t working together.”

“Amy,” Chloe said with a forced air of calm, “can you just please… please get to the point?” 

“No,” Amy said. “I am having way too much fun.”

“Oh my god,” Beca said moving away from Amy. “Emily, please tell us what’s going on?”

“Um… We think-”

“We _know_!” Amy interrupted.

“Amy thinks she knows, we’re just speculating… I’m sorry this whole thing is making me uncomfortable,” Emily said, ringing her hands. “We think you guys left the party early last night to hook up and we think you’ve been… doing more of that tonight.”

“Oh my god,” Chloe whispered. 

“You guys are freaks,” Beca said, heading towards the stairs. “And you all need to mind your own business.” 

“Beca, we love you guys. We don’t know why you’re hiding this from us. We’re family,” Emily said, looking genuinely like she was about to burst into tears.

“Don’t do that,” Beca groaned.

“Do what?” Emily squeaked, her bottom lip quivering and her eyes filling up.

“That!” Beca said, pointing. “If you do that then you’ll make Chloe-“

“It’s true!” Chloe called out, sobbing and running to Emily.

“Fucking. Hell.”

“Beca and I are dating!” Chloe hugged Emily to try and prevent her from crying. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, this is all just really new and we didn’t want to say anything in case it just sort of fizzled out.”

“Oh cool let’s all talk about this,” Beca said, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “This is exactly how I wanted to spend my night. Chloe, when you’ve finished with… whatever this is, I’ll be in my room.”

“Naked!” Amy called out, holding her hand up for a high-five.

“I hate you guys,” Beca said, shaking her head as she headed upstairs. She turned away before they could see the grin spreading across her face. “You’re all the worst!”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> Prompt: Chloe is a doctor, Beca is an FBI agent. They’re married. They met because Beca is frequent visitor to the hospital with various different battle injuries from missions. When a shooter enters the hospital Beca comes to her wife’s rescue and is critically shot while saving her wife. Chloe is overcome with guilt but when Beca eventually comes around she reassures her that no matter the outcome she would take that bullet again and again to keep her safe.
> 
> Originally posted: 22nd November 2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: gun violence

“Okay…” Beca said, her voice shaking. “Okay, let’s not do anything stupid.” 

She had never felt this kind of fear before. Being an FBI agent, she had been scared before. She’d been scared for her life, or the lives of her colleagues, for civilians. But she had never felt _this_ before.

A man… a scared, angry, devastated man was pointing a gun at her wife.

His eyes darted towards Beca who was standing in the doorway.

His hands were shaking harder than Beca’s, and he gestured with his gun for her to move away from the door. 

“Go… go stand… get away from the fucking door,” he said, his voice fractured and desperate. “You a cop?”

“FBI,” Beca said. “But I’m not here to arrest you. You’re pointing a gun at my wife, man.”

His eyes flicked between the two. “She let her die,” he said.

Chloe, who hadn’t said a word so far, closed her eyes, allowing the tears to fall. “I tried,” she whispered. “I promise I tried.”

“You didn’t try hard enough!” He yelled, pointing his gun more aggressively at Chloe. “My wife is fucking dead!”

“Come on, put the gun down. I’m sorry about your wife, but I promise you Chloe would have done everything she could,” Beca said, swallowing hard as she moved closer to Chloe. “Shooting her won’t bring your wife back.”

“I know that,” he spat through gritted teeth. “I fucking know that. I just want her to suffer.”

“Then shoot me,” Beca said. 

“No!” Chloe yelled. 

“Killing her won’t make her suffer,” Beca said, taking another step towards Chloe, trying to push her behind her. “But shooting me will.”

His eyes flashed between the two again. He looked like he was considering it. 

Beca just wished she was wearing her vest.

And then he started to lower his arms, his conviction leaving him.

“DROP THE WEAPON!” A voice shouted from the doorway.

He jumped, his arms rising again. He turned his head and saw an armed officer standing in the doorway, and then he made a decision.

He fired.

The officer fired. 

Three bodies dropped.

“Beca!” Chloe’s strangled cry came as she watched her wife stagger and fall. The brunette had pushed her with enough force to knock her off her feet before taking the bullet.

The shooter took the officer’s bullet in the back of the head and was dead before he hit the ground.

Chloe scrambled across the floor to get to her wife.

“Someone get help!” She shouted to the on-lookers at the door. “Beca. Baby.” She cupped Beca’s face in her hands. “You’re okay.” She pulled off her white coat and used it to put pressure on Beca’s bullet wood. The white turning more red with each passing second.

Beca’s hand grabbed the front of Chloe’s shirt. “Did he get you?”

“No,” Chloe choked out, tears rolling down her face. “No, he didn’t get me.”

A look of relief spread across Beca’s face. “Good,” she breathed out, her grip on Chloe’s coat slackening. 

“Hey,” Chloe said, the panic in her voice rising. “Stay with me, yeah?”

“I’m… trying…” Beca said her jaw clenched in pain. “Hurts.”

“I know, baby,” Chloe said, looking towards the door, praying for help to arrive. She looked back down to Beca who was getting paler by the second. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“It worked didn’t it?” Beca said, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile. “You didn’t get shot.”

“But _you_ did, you jerk!” 

Beca laughed but it turned into a grimace. “Chloe,” she groaned.

“Fuck,” Chloe growled in frustration. “Where are they?!” She looked back to the door and she felt a rush of relief as she saw fellow doctors Aubrey and Stacie rushing towards her, nurses pushing a gurney behind them. “Hurry!”

Beca kept her eyes on Chloe for as long as she could. Trying to savour what she thought would be the last time she’d ever see her. 

Chloe looked down in time to see her wife’s eyes close. 

And then things moved in slow motion for Chloe.

She watched as Beca was lifted onto a gurney and wheeled out of the room. She staggered to her feet and ran to catch up.

“Chloe, you need to wait outside,” Aubrey said, her voice calm but firm.

“I can help,” Chloe said, trying to follow them into the operating theatre.

“No, sweetie, you can’t. I promise we’re gonna do everything we can, okay?”

And then she was gone, leaving Chloe alone in the corridor. 

She tried to sit down but she couldn’t, so she started to pace. 

For hours, back and fourth, she paced.

She had seen Beca hurt more times than she could count. 

The first time they’d met had been Chloe’s third day as an intern, and Beca had arrived at the emergency department with a knife embedded in her thigh. Beca had seemed casual and calm about the whole situation, and Chloe had wanted to throw up.

Beca had been hurt before. Beca had been shot before. All in the line of duty, of course.

But Beca had never been hurt like _this_ before. Beca had never been hurt off-duty. Never because of her.

The realisation that this was _her_ fault caused Chloe to stop in her tracks.

Beca wasn’t even meant to be here. Chloe had text her earlier that night asking her to bring her some coffee because she was craving it, and the hospital coffee was crap. 

And then that woman had been rushed in with her husband. And Chloe had tried. Chloe _always_ tried. But she’d had an aneurysm and there was nothing Chloe could do. 

She had broken the news to the husband and gave him space to process it, promising she’d be back to explain more if he needed it. But he’d followed her and pushed her into the empty treatment room and that’s when Chloe had seen the gun.

And somehow Beca found her. 

Aubrey left the operating theatre to find Chloe sat on the floor, her back against the wall, crying into her knees.

“Chloe,” Aubrey said softly, crouching in front of her.

“Don’t say it,” Chloe choked out, sobbing harder. “Please. I can’t… I can’t lose her.”

“Chloe she’s okay. She’s gonna be okay,” Aubrey said, taking Chloe’s hands away from her face.

Chloe looked up, not daring to believe her. 

“She’s going to pull through.”

Chloe dissolved into tears of relief and threw her arms around Aubrey. “Thank you,” she sobbed. “Can I see her?”

“Of course,” Aubrey said. “She’s being taken to the recovery room now, but she’s gonna be out of it for a while yet.”

“I know,” Chloe said. “Thank you.”

So Chloe sat in an uncomfortable chair for two hours while Beca slept beside her. And Chloe thanked God every second. 

When Beca finally stirred at 3:30am, Chloe had fallen asleep with her head on Beca’s bed.

“I didn’t die then,” Beca mumbled, resting her hand on Chloe’s head and clumsily trying to brush the hair from her face.

Chloe woke up with a start. “You’re awake,” she said, her eyes filling with tears again. “How do you feel?”

“Floaty,” Beca said, smiling as Chloe took her hand and kissed it. 

“I’m so sorry baby,” Chloe whispered. 

“Why on Earth are you sorry? You didn’t shoot me,” Beca said, wincing as she tried to sit up.

“It’s my fault,” Chloe said.

“No,” Beca said, lying back down in defeat. “He made the decision to shoot, and I made the decision to take the bullet. And I’d do it again. A million times over. You are my everything, Chloe Beale-Mitchell.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> Just breathe / It’ll be over soon combo from the angst list pretty please?
> 
> 26th June 2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: major character death

**_One month before_ **

The girl was a dead weight in Chloe’s arms as she pulled her out of the sea and onto the sand. Being a trained lifeguard, this wasn’t the first time Chloe had had to rescue someone, but she never got used to the weight.

She moved quickly backwards up the wet, cold sand and finally got the unconscious girl above the tide line.

Wet, dark brown hair was plastered to her face and Chloe swept it out of the way so she could check her over. Her heart sank when she realised the girl wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. 

Chloe started CPR without hesitation, the girls lips cold against her own.

She had been intrigued by the girl when she spotted her on the beach a few hours before. She’d been in a wet suit and had an old surf board next to her, but she’d made no move to head into the sea. The area was popular with surfers but because it was a colder day the beach was quieter, and Chloe had been surprised the girl didn’t use this to her advantage. Eventually the girl had made her way into the sea to the line-up, but that seemed to have sapped all the energy out of her. Chloe had watched as the girl sat on her board, forcing herself to take deep and steadying breaths, before she slid sideways off her board and didn’t reappear.

Chloe’s arms were aching as she carried on performing CPR. She began to feel a rising sense of panic. The longer the girl was down, the more oxygen deprived her brain was becoming, and the less likely it would be that she would recover.

“Come on,” Chloe muttered through gritted teeth. “Come on.” She could feel tears stinging her eyes. 

And then the girl gave a cough and splutter. She coughed up a large amount of sea water, and opened her eyes, looking confused and afraid.

Chloe rolled her onto her side and rubbed her back while she got the rest of the water up.

Her chest wheezed and rattled as she sucked air into her lungs.

“Just breathe,” Chloe said, feeling relieved. “You’re okay, just breathe. We’re gonna call an ambulance and get you to hospital-”

“No,” the girl choked out. “Please. No ambulance. No hospital.”

“I’ve… I’ve got to. You _have_ to go to the hospital. You weren’t breathing. Your heart literally stopped. There are also loads of complications that can happen after near-drowning-” Chloe rambled on before the girl cut her off again.

“Stop,” she said, coughing. “Jeez. I’ll go just… No ambulance.” She coughed again. “I can drive myself.” Her teeth were chattering and her lips were practically blue. There was also something strange about the look in her eyes. It was almost like anger.

“No,” Chloe said. “If you aren’t taking an ambulance then I’ll drive you. I can’t just let you wander off after you basically died. Do you have clothes with you?”

The girl groaned but didn’t argue. “Fine. And yes, they’re in my car. If you wait here-”

“So you can drive off? Nope. We’re getting some blankets and towels from the lifeguard station and then we can go get your stuff from your car,” Chloe said. “What’s your name by the way?”

“Beca,” the girl said, shivering violently as a gust of wind swept across the beach.

“I’m Chloe,” she said, standing and helping the girl to her feet. “Let’s get you warm, okay?”

Rather than argue, the girl nodded. She looked pale and exhausted and her legs looked like they were going to buckle with every step. 

Back at the lifeguard station Chloe wrapped a foil blanket around Beca’s shoulders and grabbed a couple of towels. As Beca got her keys out of a locker, Chloe changed out of her wet shorts and t-shirt and through on a hoody. 

“Ready?” Chloe asked. Beca nodded again and they made their way to her car. “Here.” Chloe handed her a towel and turned her back so Beca could change and dry off. “Is there anyone you want me to call for you?” Chloe asked as Beca zipped up a hoody and locked her car.

She shook her head. “How long can you park here for?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Once you’ve been checked out I can drive you back to your car,” Chloe said.

Beca shook her head slightly but the corners of her mouth twitched, threatening a smile.

Chloe cranked the heat in her car, worried about the way Beca was still shivering and coughing. 

“Thank you by the way,” Beca said, her head resting on the passenger side window. “For saving me. I… I might have acted like a bit of a jerk.”

Chloe glanced over at her as she drove them to the hospital. “That’s okay. You were scared. People act like jerks when they’re scared.” Beca laughed and the sound made Chloe smile, even if it was followed by a coughing fit. “What happened anyway? One minute you were sitting there and then you just… fell.”

Beca shifted in her seat. “Don’t really remember,” she said. “I’m a bit more out of shape than the last time I surfed. I guess I just passed out or something.”

“You aren’t out of shape,” Chloe said, causing Beca to snort in disbelief. “Okay, maybe you look a bit like death right now, but I’m sure that’s because you almost died.”

Beca shook her head, smiling. “Is your bedside manner always this good?”

“I’m a lifeguard, I don’t need a bedside manner. I just need to look hot when I run in slow-motion.”

“I’m sure you do,” Beca said, laughing.

When they got to the hospital Chloe had to help Beca out of the car and support her as they walked inside as didn’t seem able to hold herself up. When they reached the entrance, Beca groaned.

“What is it?” Chloe asked.

“Nothing, just-”

“Rebecca Mitchell!” A loud voice rang out. “What the fuck?!”

“Hello Dr. Conrad,” Beca said, clinging to Chloe as she limped into the hospital. Her voice seemed to be getting more and more drained. 

“Friend of yours?” Chloe asked, confused at the way this tall brunette doctor was glaring at Beca.

“Doctor of mine,” Beca said. 

“Where have you been?! I go to check on you and your bed is empty and your shoes are gone! Everyone is searching the hospital and grounds for you!” 

“Relax, Stacie,” Beca said. “I just went surfing.”

“Are you fucking with me right now?” The doctor called Stacie said, her voice now quiet and terrifying. “You went surfing? Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Chloe’s eyebrows furrowed as she glanced between the two. Sure surfing was dangerous, but this seemed like an overreaction.

“Oh my god,” Beca groaned, rolling her eyes. “I’m fine, okay?”

“Then why is a lifeguard half carrying you to the hospital?” Stacie turned her gaze to Chloe. “What happened?”

“Uhh…” Chloe looked at Beca who seemed resigned to getting chewed out. “Well…” Stacie raised her eyebrows.

“Well?”

“I pulled her out of the sea unconscious and not breathing,” Chloe said, with an apologetic look at Beca. 

Stacie pushed her fingers into her eyes and started quietly counting to ten. 

“She’s dramatic,” Beca muttered. 

“Rebecca Mitchell,” Stacie said, very quietly. “I am going to kill you.”

“That’s not really necessary is it?” Beca said, smirking.

“Do not test me,” Stacie said, pointing at her. She grabbed a nearby wheelchair. “Sit. Now.”

“I can walk,” Beca grumbled.

“I’m not trying to take sides here,” Chloe said, causing both women to shoot a glance at her. “Uh… It’s just I’m literally supporting all of your weight right now. You should sit down before you collapse.” She turned to Stacie. “She had no pulse and wasn’t breathing from about five to ten minutes.”

“Nark,” Beca muttered, sitting down on the chair and coughing again.

“And she’s been coughing like that since I brought her back,” Chloe said. 

“She’s been coughing like that for about about a year,” Stacie said, not taking her eyes off Beca. “What were you thinking?” Her voice had softened considerably.

“I just wanted to see the sea again,” Beca said, eyes downcast. “I wanted to be outside and away from this place.”

Chloe had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach. 

She hadn’t met Beca before today, and it wasn’t as if they’d even hit it off, but Chloe was feeling sick at this dawning realisation.

“Thank you for bringing her in,” Stacie said, putting her hands on the handles of the wheelchair.

“Yeah, thanks for saving my ass,” Beca mumbled, giving her a small smile. “I don’t think I’ll be back to the beach anytime soon, but if you find yourself on ward 17 hit me up.”

And to Beca’s surprise, Chloe did.

She arrived the next afternoon, finding Beca lying in a hospital bed with a drip attached to her arm. She looked miserable but not quite as close to death as she’d looked the previous day.

“Dude, what are you doing here?” Beca asked, surprised.

“I was in the neighbourhood,” Chloe said with a shrug. “Are you allowed visitors?”

“Uh, sure?” Beca said, still confused. 

“Do you _want_ a visitor?”

“I guess?” 

“Awes,” Chloe said with a grin. She sat down in the chair beside Beca’s bed. “What are you in for?”

“Man you don’t do small talk do you?” Beca said with a nervous laugh. Chloe shook her head. “I’m sick.”

“Well duh.”

Beca laughed. “Okay. Really sick. Like, uh, been in hospital the past few months sick. Like they’ve tried every treatment they can throw at me and I’m still really fucking sick.”

“Oh,” Chloe said, her smile dropping. “Shit. I’m sorry, Beca.”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Me too.”

**_Three weeks before_ **

“Any sevens?”

“Go fish.”

“Rude. I’m not allowed in the sea anymore,” Beca said, picking up a card from the pile.

“You don’t have to go _in_ the sea to fish, dummy,” Chloe replied, looking through her own cards. 

“Your bedside manner is appalling.”

Chloe had been to visit Beca almost every day, whenever she wasn’t working. They usually just played cards and talked about nothing serious. Sometimes Beca would show Chloe mixes she’d made on her laptop. Sometimes she’d be too sick to talk so she would sleep while Chloe would read.

Beca wasn’t sure why Chloe was visiting her, but she couldn’t say that it wasn’t nice to finally have some company. And Chloe was fun, and kind, and funny. And didn’t make Beca feel like she was broken. Or dying.

Chloe couldn’t say why she was visiting Beca, but she enjoyed her company as much as Beca enjoyed hers. She wished they’d been able to meet under different circumstances.

One night after Beca had fallen asleep and Chloe was leaving her room, Stacie approached her.

“Can I have a word?” Stacie asked quietly.

Chloe nodded and they walked away from Beca’s room, down the hospital corridor.

“Look, I feel like I should give you a heads up,” Stacie said. “I don’t know how much Beca’s told you but… Well… Basically she’s, uh, she’s not getting better. She’s… She’s not _going_ to get better.”

Chloe felt her heart drop into her stomach. “She’s… right… shit.”

“I think it’s really cool that you’ve been visiting her, I know it’s definitely improved her mental state. But you should know that she doesn’t have a huge amount of time left. You should… you should prepare yourself for that,” Stacie said, and Chloe was surprised to see tears in the doctor’s eyes. 

Chloe swallowed, feeling them burn her own eyes. “She doesn’t have anyone else, does she?”

“No,” Stacie said, sadly. “Her Mom died when she was a kid and her dad is nowhere to be found. As for friends, they came in the beginning but I think it got a little too real for them. I’ve been trying to be there for her, we’ve grown kinda close since she got sick. But, you know, I’m her doctor. There’s only so much of a relationship we can have.”

“Right,” Chloe said. “Thank you for telling me this. But I can’t leave her on her own.”

**_Two weeks before_ **

“Cool badge,” Beca mumbled.

Chloe’s eyes shot up from her book. Beca had been asleep when she got there, so she’d just taken a seat beside her and waited for her to wake up. This wasn’t uncommon, and Beca seemed to find comfort in having someone there when she woke up. Chloe didn’t mind, it meant she had a quiet place to read and she could be there just… Just in case.

Chloe looked down at the pink, purple and blue badge that was pinned to her jacket.

“Thanks,” Chloe said, brightly.

“It’s the bi flag, right?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. 

“So you’re…”

“Bi? It’d be weird if I was wearing the badge and I wasn’t,” Chloe said with a wink.

“Shut up,” Beca said, laughing and coughing. She was quiet for a few minutes. “I am too.”

“You are?”

Beca nodded. “Never really told anyone before.”

“Well, thank you for telling me,” Chloe said, smiling. 

Beca stayed quiet again, thinking. “Have you ever kissed a girl?” She blurted out.

“A couple,” Chloe said. “Have you?”

Beca shook her head.

“How old are you?” Chloe asked.

“Twenty-two,” Beca said, a little embarrassed.

“Well, don’t worry about it. There’s still time,” she said, full of optimism. Beca raised her eyebrows and Chloe’s face burned red as she realised what she’d said. “Shit. Sorry. My brain and mouth don’t always connect.”

“It’s okay,” Beca said, laughing. “I’d like to though. One of the things on my bucket list I didn’t get to tick off. Along with visit every Six Flags and swim in the sea during sunset.”

Chloe looked at her. “Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m taking you to Six Flags, duh.”

Beca closed her eyes hesitantly. 

Chloe kissed her.

Beca’s lips were chapped and warm and she tasted like the grapes she was always eating. Beca kissed her back, cupping Chloe’s face with her hands. Chloe’s lips were soft and she tasted like the sea. 

“Holy shit,” Beca whispered when they broke apart. 

Chloe surprised them both when her eyes filled with tears.

“Dude… Was I that bad?”

“No,” Chloe said, half laughing, half crying. “Sorry. I just… I really like you.”

“Oh,” Beca said. “I like you too. Why else would I let you hang out here and eat all my grapes?”

Chloe laughed again. “I mean I… I _like_ like you.”

“But you didn’t even know I liked girls?”

“Sweetie, your phone background is a picture of Emily Blunt and you wear a different flannel shirt every day. I had a hunch,” Chloe said.

“Fuck off,” Beca said shoving her away, laughing. “I was gonna say that I _like_ liked you too but now I think you’re the worst.”

**_One week before_ **

“I’m dying, you know that right?” Beca said one afternoon. It had been a particularly bad few days. Her breathing had gotten so bad she had to wear an oxygen mask because the cannula she’d been wearing wasn’t giving her enough oxygen. Beca was tired and irritable and miserable with constant headaches and no appetite. 

“Everybody’s dying,” Chloe said, trying to ignore the free-fall of her stomach. 

“Fuck’s sake,” Beca muttered, rolling her eyes.

“What?”

“I’m trying to have an actual conversation and you keep making jokes,” she said.

“Sorry,” Chloe said. “I didn’t mean to. We can talk for real if you want. No jokes.”

Beca looked a little ashamed. “I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just… I’m fed up.”

“I know,” Chloe said, taking hold of her hand. “I’m sorry. And… And yeah. I know you’re dying, Bec.”

Beca nodded, and looked like she was trying to psyche herself up to say something. “They’re moving me to a hospice.”

“Fuck,” Chloe said. “When?”

“Soon,” Beca said. “Within the next few days.”

“Right.” Chloe’s eyes had filled with tears but she didn’t want Beca to see. “Okay. I can still visit you, right?”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Basically all the time. Not that you’d want to. But there’s fewer restrictions. Since they’re not really there to keep me alive. It’s more… They’re making me comfortable.” 

“No, that makes sense. I’ll be there as often as I can,” Chloe said. “I can take some time off work-”

“Chlo’ you don’t have to,” Beca said. “If you need to… To bail then you can. You should.”

“What?”

“I’m giving you an out,” Beca said. “You don’t have to be here at the end.”

“I’m not leaving you now,” Chloe said. 

**_Five days before_ **

“I didn’t pass out that day,” Beca said, her voice rough and thick with sleep.

“What?” Chloe mumbled, half asleep herself.

They were in Beca’s room at the hospice. Beca had a decent dose of morphine to keep the pain away, and had slept most of the evening. Chloe barely left her side now, and had been almost asleep herself.

“When you pulled me out of the sea. I hadn’t fallen off my board because I passed out,” her voice kept trailing off as she struggled to stay awake. “I was trying to kill myself.”

Chloe suddenly felt wide awake. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of icy water on her. “What are you talking about?”

“Dying is the fucking worst,” Beca mumbled. “I just wanted it to be over. I didn’t want to die in a stuffy room attached to a load of machines. I wanted to die outside. With the sea. It might have been kinder if you’d let me.”

“I’d be a pretty shitty lifeguard then,” Chloe said, before dissolving into tears.

“I’m sorry,” Beca mumbled, letting sleep take her finally.

“Me too.”

**_The day before_ **

“She doesn’t have long,” Chloe said, standing outside Beca’s room with Stacie. “They’re saying it’s any day now.”

“And you’re sure this is what she wants?” Stacie asked, looking into Beca’s room through the window on the door.

“Positive,” Chloe said. “She doesn’t want it to happen here. And… and she’s ready, Stace.”

Stacie sighed, tears pricking at her eyes. “Okay,” she said.

“You’ll help?”

“I’ll help,” Stacie said. 

**_Her last day_ **

“Take my hand,” Chloe said, helping Beca into the wheelchair by her bed. “I’ve got you.”

“Thanks,” Beca wheezed. 

“Ready?” Chloe asked, tucking blankets over her legs and fastening her coat. 

“Ready. Quit fussing,” she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. She tried to bat Chloe’s hand away but the redhead caught it and kissed it, tears building. “None of that. It’s…” she took a deep, rattling breath, “it’s a good day.”

“Are you sure about this Beca?” Stacie asked, making sure the portable oxygen tank was working. “We can do this another day? Maybe when you’re feeling stronger? It doesn’t have to be today.”

“It does,” Beca said. “I don’t have another good day in me.”

Chloe wheeled Beca out of her room and towards the waiting van. She wheeled her into the back and locked the wheels in place. The van drove them to the beach.

Her chair wouldn’t go across sand so Chloe picked her up and carried her, Stacie following behind holding the oxygen tank.

“God you’re so heavy,” Chloe muttered, pretending to struggle with her weight.

Beca laughed which turned into a cough, and blood coated the palm of her hand. She wiped it on her jeans and Chloe pretended not to notice.

“How long until sunset?” Beca asked.

“About thirty minutes,” Chloe said. “Can you hold on until then?”

“I think so,” Beca replied.

They sat at the edge of the ocean, the water creeping ever closer, brushing against the soles of their shoes. 

“Can… can you take…” she pointed to her shoes and Chloe removed her socks and shoes so Beca could feel the water against her feet. “Holy fuck that’s cold.”

“You don’t have to go in,” Stacie said, a note of panic in her voice. “We can still go back.”

“Stace,” Beca wheezed. “Thank you for being my friend.” She reached out and squeezed Stacie’s hand. “You can stop being my doctor now. There isn’t anything you can do or say that will cure me.”

“You’re a pain in my ass, Mitchell,” Stacie said, choking out a sob. 

“Are those your last words to me? They suck,” Beca said, smirking. 

“Fuck you, how about those words?”

“So professional,” Beca laughed. 

Stacie squeezed her hand back. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

“You did everything.”

Chloe was having a hard time keeping it together. She was biting down on her lip hard to stop from crying out. 

“I’m ready, Chlo’.”

With Stacie’s help, she removed the oxygen mask and untangled her from the tubes. Beca struggled to breathe the cold sea air, and Chloe had to fight the urge to give her the mask back.

“This is going to be cold,” Chloe said, picking Beca up and walking into the sea.

“I hope so,” Beca replied.

When the first wave crashed into them, the cold shocked Beca so much she started almost hyperventilating.

“Shh,” Chloe said, as they carried on walking. “You’re okay. Just breathe. I’ve got you.”

“So… fucking… cold,” Beca shivered and coughed but she was smiling.

Chloe kept walking and soon they were deep enough for her sink down into the ocean, the water reaching just below their shoulders.

“The sun’s setting,” Chloe said, softly, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I can see it,” Beca said, teeth chattering. Her hands wrapped around Chloe, and Chloe held her close. She could hear each one of Beca’s desperate, rattling breaths. 

“Do you want to go back? You’d be more comfortable with some oxygen,” Chloe said, her own voice shaking though not from the cold. “We have some morphine with us.”

“N-N-No,” Beca stammered. 

“Okay,” Chloe sobbed, unable to hold it back. “Okay. It’ll be over soon, baby.”

“Th-th-thank y-you.”

“Thank you,” Chloe whispered back, kissing Beca on the cheek. 

And soon Beca was a dead weight in her arms. 

And she walked out of the see, across the cold wet sand, and lay her down. Wet brown hair plastered her face, and Chloe swept it aside to confirm what she already knew.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> bechloe meet on a train? idk
> 
> Originally posted: 8th January 2018

Chloe Beale was a big fan of routine. She thrived on it. She got up at the same time every morning, 6:05am, dressed, showered, ate a small breakfast and was out of the door by 7:02am, ready to catch the 7:12am train into town.

She sat in the same seat and, for the most part, smiled at the same people every morning on her way to work. 

On a cold morning in early December, Chloe’s routine was interrupted by someone sitting in her seat. 

It was a girl who seemed to be her age although it was hard to tell. She was wrapped up in a thick coat, wearing a scarf around her mouth and a wooly hat so only her eyes and nose were visible. Her arms were crossed and she was fast asleep, her head resting against the window.

Chloe sat opposite, placing her thermos of coffee on the table between them, and tried not to stare. 

When the train rumbled back into life and pulled away from the station, the girl opposite jerked awake.

She blinked a few times, before rubbing her eyes and sitting up straighter.

“What station did we just leave?” She asked, looking out of the window trying to read the sign.

“Prince Street,” Chloe said, suppressing a smirk.

“Prince Street,” the girl said, pulling a copy of the train timetable out of her pocket. She started frantically scanning for Prince Street’s location, terrified she might have slept through her stop.

“Where are you getting off?” Chloe asked.

“Barden town centre,” she said, still looking.

“The train terminates there, you haven’t missed it,” Chloe said, grinning when the girl sat back in relief.

“Oh thank god,” she said. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Chloe said, chuckling. “I’m Chloe, by the way.”

“Beca,” the girl said.

“Nice to meet you Beca,” Chloe said.

“You too.”

“Are you new to town?” Chloe asked, not quite ready to let the girl go back to sleep yet.

“Yeah,” Beca said. “I moved here like, two days ago. I start my job today. I’m meeting my new boss for the first time so I really don’t want to be late.”

“Where are you working?” Chloe asked.

“Um, Barden radio station? Actually, do you know where it is? Because I have this tendency to get lost and-”

“I know where it is,” Chloe said, smiling again. “I’ll take you there.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Beca said. “I don’t want to make you late or anything.”

“You won’t,” Chloe said. “Anyway, sorry for keeping you awake. There’s still a good 40 minutes until we get there, if you wanted to finish your nap.”

Beca laughed. “Thanks,” she said. “I didn’t sleep much last night.”

“I’ll wake you up when we get there,” Chloe said.

Beca smiled and pulled her scarf back up, resting her head against the window again. Chloe glanced down at her phone and when she looked back up, Beca had already fallen asleep.

Chloe laughed and shook her head.

40 minutes later, she shook the brunette awake.

“We’re here,” she said.

“Right,” Beca said, rubbing her eyes again. “Thanks.”

“So you fell asleep in like 30 seconds, that’s really impressive,” Chloe said as they climbed off the train.

“Oh it’s my one talent,” Beca said. “I can fall asleep anytime, anywhere.”

“That’s actually a pretty good talent,” Chloe said. “I can’t sleep in a public place.”

“It’s a risky game to play,” Beca said. “I used to do it at school and on at least four separate occasions I went home with a moustache drawn on my face.”  
Chloe laughed, and Beca thought it might have been the best sound she’d ever heard.

It didn’t take them long to reach Barden radio station.

“Here we are,” Chloe said. 

“Thanks so much for this,” Beca said. “Maybe I’ll see you again sometime?”

“I’m almost certain you will,” Chloe said. She started walking into the building.

Beca hesitated, confused, before she jogged to catch up with her.

“Morning Chloe!” Someone called out. 

“Morning Joe,” Chloe said back, raising her hand.

“Um…”

“I imagine they told you to wait in reception for your new boss to come and meet you, right?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah…”

“They tell you their name?”

Beca pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and started reading aloud. “Be at the radio station by 8am. Your new boss… Chloe Beale… will meet you in reception.” Beca looked up at the grinning redhead. “Chloe Beale?”

Chloe held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Beca laughed, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you too,” she said. “You must think I’m an idiot.”

“Of course not,” Chloe said. “In fact, I think we’re gonna be really fast friends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wasn't actually going to bother posting this because it isn't anything spectacular. Like it's not particularly funny and there's no emotional content or anything. It isn't really anything - it's kinda crappy - but for some reason this is probably the most number of notes one of my prompts has ever gotten and I don't know why. So I figured I'd add it in. 
> 
> That's all the old prompts that I'm going to include for now - going forward I think I'll just be posting any new ones I get sent. If you're interested in sending me a prompt, just send me an ask on Tumblr (https://massivedrickhead.tumblr.com/ask). If you don't have Tumblr and really wanna send me one, you can PM me on here if you like :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Would you be able to do a Bechloe prompt set between pp2 and pp3 in New York, Chloe accidentally reveals to Beca that she used to have anorexia and Beca is completely shocked at first because she doesn’t understand. Chloe explains it slightly to beca and beca says she will always be there for her because she loves her? Xx
> 
> Originally posted 23rd July 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Anorexia/eating disorders are discussed.

“Oh my god you did _not_ go to prom in a tux!” Chloe exclaimed, looking at the photo Beca had just shown her on her phone. “That is so badass!”

Beca laughed, swiping along so Chloe could see more.

“And were they your date?” Chloe asked, pointing at the person standing beside them.

“Kind of yeah. That was my best friend David, they went in full drag,” Beca said, smiling fondly. “Our school had this dumb rule that same-sex couples couldn’t go as dates. So we decided to be really edgy and go together but, like, with our roles swapped.” Beca swiped again.

“That’s so fucking cool, Beca,” Chloe said. “I was not edgy at my prom.”

“I bet you looked cute though,” Beca said. “Have you got any photos?”

“Probably,” Chloe said, leaning over to pick her phone up from the nightstand. She felt Beca’s hand absentmindedly trail across her back and she smiled. She was still getting used to this side of Beca that had emerged ever since they’d started dating.

She found any excuse she could to touch her, as if she was making up for lost time. Chloe wasn’t complaining.

“Here,” Chloe said, scrolling back through her tagged photos on facebook. She handed Beca her phone.

Beca looked down at the picture of Chloe in a powder-blue dress, her hair in all kinds of elaborate plaits and twists, with a blandly handsome boy standing beside her, his arm resting cautiously on her hip. As if he was ready to whip it away at any second.

“Cute,” Beca said before she swiped across to another photo, this one a clearer, more zoomed in duplicate of the previous one. Beca frowned at it but couldn’t immediately say why. “You look… different.” She tilted her head to the side. “You’re really thin.”

“Thanks?”

“No, like you’re thin now. You’re perfect now. You just look a lot thinner there,” Beca said. She kept staring at the photo, well aware she might be offending her girlfriend. The Chloe in this picture looked like a different person to the one she was currently dating. Her face was thinner, _much_ thinner. Her waist was tiny. Her eyes weren’t as bright and her smile looked forced.

The silence between them was getting almost uncomfortable, so Beca handed Chloe back her phone. “Was that your boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “That’s Tom.” She climbed off the bed and went to the kitchen.

“You okay?” Beca asked, following her.

“Yeah,” Chloe said, pouring herself a glass of water. “It’s just been a while since I saw those pictures.”

Beca nodded, biting her lip. “I feel like I might have said something wrong?”

Chloe smiled and shook her head, holding out her hand for Beca to take. Beca did, and Chloe pulled her close.

“I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t thin _now_ ,” Beca said. “If anything I think you look better now. You’ve really aged well. Like a fine wine.”

“Shut up,” Chloe said, laughing. “Of course I look better now, I was…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“No, go on,” Beca said.

“It’s nothing,” Chloe said, letting Beca go and returning to their bed.

“It’s obviously not nothing,” Beca said. “Talk to me.”

“I was just… I wasn’t very well at that time. For like the last two years of high school and the beginning of college I had, uh, some trouble with my weight,” Chloe said, trying to avoid looking at Beca.

“What do you mean?”

“I had, like, anorexia. For a while,” Chloe said, running a hand through her hair.

Beca didn’t say anything for a few minutes. She looked confused. “I don’t… I don’t understand.”

“What bit don’t you understand?” Chloe asked, mirroring Beca’s look of confusion. “I felt like I was too fat and I hated the way I looked so I stopped eating.”

“But… You’re beautiful. I’ve seen pictures of you in high school and you’ve _always_ been beautiful. How can you not see that?”

“I was ill,” Chloe said. “It isn’t as simple as all that, Bec.”

“Explain it to me,” Beca said. “I want to understand.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t stand the thought of you ever thinking this kind of thing about yourself again. Because if it does happen again, I want to be able to help,” Beca said, taking Chloe’s hand. “Because I love you.”

Chloe smiled. “I love you too.”

“Come here,” Beca said, pulling Chloe so she was lying against her chest. “Tell me about it?”

“It was the one thing going on in my life that I could control,” Chloe said after a small silence. “I felt like everything else in my life were just things I was doing because that’s what was expected. You know, cheerleading, dating the quarterback, get straight As but still make sure I had a social life, go to church on Sundays… Trying not to think about girls in _that_ way…”

“Go on,” Beca said, softly.

“I was the biggest out of my other… I don’t know if friends is the right word. The other girls in the cheerleading squad. I wasn’t overweight, I knew I wasn’t, but I felt it. So I started dieting and I started losing weight. And it felt good at first. I could fit into my clothes a little easier, I noticed boys looking at me more… I got _praised_ for it. Everyone telling me how _well_ I’d done. How _good_ I looked. No one ever said… No one ever noticed when it started going too far. It’s kind of fucked up, isn’t it? No one noticed that I was only eating a salad and a granola bar every day. Not my parents or friends or even Tom. It wasn’t until I got to college and met Aubrey that I realised it wasn’t right.”

“She noticed?”

“She noticed,” Chloe said. “She just… She just asked me outright one day. She doesn’t pussyfoot around stuff.” Chloe laughed slightly at the memory. “She asked if I had an eating disorder. I told her no, of course not. I didn’t think I had one, I just thought I was a girl on a diet. Anyway, she helped me realise what I was doing to myself. I had some therapy and yeah… here we are.”

“Were you still struggling with this when we met?” Beca asked.

“I guess. It never really went away, Bec. I just… I’m better at dealing with those feelings. When my head is telling me I’m too fat and I’m disgusting and if I eat that slice of pizza everyone will hate me… I just have to be like ‘okay, thanks for sharing, but I disagree’,” Chloe said. “It doesn’t happen often anymore.”

“The next time it does, can you tell me?”

“Sure,” Chloe said. “Why?”

“I hate the thought of you dealing with this alone,” Beca said.

Chloe sat up and kissed her. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Beca said. “No matter what you’re going through or how you look, I’ll be here for you.”

Chloe felt tears burning her eyes. “Promise?”

“Promise."


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Be Chloe prompt- beca used to self harm (doesn’t anymore) but one time at rehearsals Chloe notices the scars on Beca’s arms- beca gets flustered and defensive and leaves. Chloe follows her and they have a mini gear to heart- lots of fluff.
> 
> Originally posted 25 July 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Self harm is discussed

Beca froze when she felt a hand close around her arm.

“Beca,” Chloe said, softly, so quiet only Beca could hear her. “What is this?”

Beca pulled her arm away with such force that Chloe took a step back.

“I’m sorry-”

“-not here,” Beca said, cutting her off. “Not now.”

Beca pulled her sleeves as far down as they would go, and walked across the room to where her bag was. She could feel eyes watching her, and heard other conversations fall silent. As she reached her bag she turned and saw the other girls watching her.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Fat Amy said. “You’re the one stomping about.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “I’m not stomping.”

“Well you’re not tip-toeing,” Amy muttered, turning away.

The other girls were still silent, awkwardly looking down at their shoes or up at the ceiling. Basically looking anywhere but at Beca.

This was exactly what she didn’t want. She grabbed her bag and left the rehearsal, ignoring Chloe calling after her.

If she was going to make them feel awkward and uncomfortable, then she’d remove herself from the situation.

It wasn’t like she was desperate to be there anyway. She was only doing it to get her dad off her back and because Chloe had _insisted_ she audition.

It would have only been a matter of time before she was kicked out or she quit. Better now than later.

So why did she feel so bad?

“Beca!”

She couldn’t help but turn and slow down at the sound of Chloe’s voice.

Her voice had a pull.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have done it like that.”

“Shouldn’t have done what?” Beca said.

“Come on,” Chloe said. “You don’t have to pretend.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Beca said, turning away again and her walk speeding up.

“Beca, I just wanna talk to you. I wanna make sure you’re okay,” Chloe said, jogging to catch up.

Beca didn’t speak again and just kept walking to her dorm room, praying Kimmy Jin would be out.

She was in luck, her room was empty when she reached it.

“Beca,” Chloe said again, stopping at the doorway, not wanting to follow her in if Beca really didn’t want her there. “Please.”

Beca sighed and opened the door wider, nodding. If she was honest, she didn’t want to be alone right now. She was worried what would happen if she was alone.

“Thank you,” Chloe said, closing the door behind her. She had spent a fair amount of time in this room since hood night, usually just listening to Beca’s music, or studying with her. This was the first time she’d felt out of place.

Beca dropped onto her bed, so Chloe took a seat on her desk chair. Beca felt relieved. This conversation would be hard enough without having to deal with Chloe being so close.

She got flustered when Chloe was close.

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said again. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“I know,” Beca said. “I just… I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I shouldn’t have-,”

“-I know. It’s okay,” Beca said, pulling at her sleeves again, avoiding eye contact. “I don’t do it anymore.”

“How long?” Chloe asked, itching to move over to the bed.

“Ten months,” Beca said, exhaling slowly. “Three weeks. Four days.” She stretched and clenched her fingers repeatedly, like she was fighting something.

“Bec,” Chloe said softly. “That’s amazing.”

Beca scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I… I think about it all the time. I don’t know how much longer I can go.”

Chloe made the decision to move off the chair, and sat down beside Beca on the bed. “I’m really proud of you,” she said, taking Beca’s hand and squeezing it. “How about the next time you get the urge to do it, you come find me? Just come up to me and squeeze my hand, just like this, and we can find somewhere quiet to sit. We can talk or listen to music, or I can distract you. Whatever you need. And if you can’t find me, just text me or call. Whatever time, I don’t care.”

Beca smiled, looking at their entwined hands. “Chloe, That’s a lot you’re trying to take on.”

“I know,” Chloe said. “I know it’s a lot, but I want to do this. I want to help.”

“Why?”

Chloe squeezed her hand again. “My sister did this for years. I had no idea. Her room was next door to mine, and I had no idea she was hurting herself every night. It killed me when I found out. It broke my heart that she hadn’t asked for help, and it hurt even more that I didn’t notice she needed it. I don’t want to do that again.”

“I’m sorry,” Beca said. “Is she okay now?”

“She’s better,” Chloe said. “She’s in therapy and she’s on medication.”

“That’s good,” Beca said. “Are you sure you want to do this? I’m not easy to deal with when I’m having a bad day.”

“I’m sure,” Chloe said. “If you need help, I want you to feel like you can come to me for help. You’ve done so well to get this far, I want to help you get even further. I care about you, Becs.”

“Thank you,” Beca said. “This… This really mean a lot to me.”

“Well _you_ mean a lot to me,” Chloe said.

Beca grinned and felt herself blush. Her hand was still linked with Chloe’s and she didn’t want to let go. “What am I gonna tell the girls about why I stormed out like that?”

“We can just say you had explosive diarrhoea,” Chloe said.

“Oh my god, you jerk,” Beca said, laughing and shoving Chloe away from her. “I’d rather tell them the truth.”

“You could you know? I know Aubrey would understand. And I’m sure the other girls would too. We’re a family now. Bonded for life,” Chloe said, nudging beca with her shoulder.

Beca’s smile slipped slightly and she shook her head. “Maybe one day, but not yet.”

“Okay,” Chloe said. “Then you don’t need to tell them anything. I can deal with Aubrey.”

“You’re the best,” Beca said. “Thank you.”

“You’re fine with Aubrey thinking you had explosive diarrhoea right?”

“Fuck. Off.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Could you do a follow up to the last bechloe prompt?? The one where beca used to self harm and is scared she’ll relapse so chloe tells her to go to her the next time she gets the urge? Thank you 🥰
> 
> Originally posted 27 July 2020
> 
> For part 1 of this fic, please see chapter 15.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Self harm is discussed

Beca had managed to make it another month before she took Chloe up on her offer.

It had been hard.

It was a constant thought inside her. A constant need that she couldn’t explain. Like it was a physical thing, crawling under her skin. Dying to get out.

And Beca wanted to let it out. Desperately.

It was during a rehearsal when Beca finally reached breaking point.

Aubrey was running down her list of critiques for each of them. Stacie was still touching herself too much, Fat Amy was still trying to mix up the choreography, Beca still hadn’t got the choreography. She also hadn’t taken out her ‘ear monstrosities’. She had a major attitude problem.

“Are you even listening, Beca?” Aubrey snapped.

Beca had been staring at a spot on the ground, elbows digging into her legs, hands clenched together. She was trying to drown out Aubrey’s voice. Trying to focus on the burning pain in her thighs caused by her elbows. She tried to squeeze her hands together tighter, hoping to cause even the slightest amount of pain to take the edge off.

She looked up and her eyes found Chloe’s.

Chloe’s eyes flicked down briefly to Beca’s hands, seeing her knuckles turning white as she gripped harder. She could see Beca pleading with her. Begging her to understand. To know what she needed without her having to ask for it.

“Okay, Aubrey, I think that’s enough,” Chloe said, placing a hand on her co-captains arm.

Aubrey glanced at her and sighed. “Fine. Then I guess we’re done for today.”

As the rest of the girls started gathering their things, getting ready to leave, Chloe made her way over to Beca.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Are you okay?”

Beca glanced around, making sure no one was paying them any attention, before she reached out and took Chloe’s hand, squeezing it.

“Okay,” Chloe said, squeezing back. “Let’s go for a walk.” She let go of Beca’s hand and placed it on her back, guiding her out of the room. “I think we should go over that choreography again, Beca,” she said, loudly so the other girls would hear. “You really don’t seem to be getting it.”

Once they were out of the rehearsal space and out of earshot of the others, Chloe reached down and took her hand again.

“Thanks,” Beca said.

“What do you need?” Chloe asked as they walked.

“I don’t know,” Beca said, taking her free hand and running it through her hair. “It’s… It’s really bad, Chloe. I really want to… To do something.”

Chloe squeezed her hand again. “It’s okay,” Chloe said. “I’m here. Do you wanna talk about it or do you want a distraction?”

Beca felt tears burning her eyes “Distraction,” she said her voice catching. “Please.”

So Chloe started talking about nothing as they walked. She told Beca all about the book she was having to read for Russian Lit, and about how the boy who sits next to her spends the whole lecture just looking at different cat adoption websites.

She talked about how the other day she and Aubrey had spent almost an hour trying to catch a spider that was in their bathroom, because neither of them wanted to kill it but neither watched to catch it either.

She encouraged Beca to talk about her intro to philosophy class, and about how interning at the radio station was going.

“Does handsome British Luke still work there?”

“Yeah,” Beca said, laughing. “Jesse hates him. Every time Luke talks to me I feel like I can see steam coming out of his ears.”

“Well Jesse’s probably jealous,” Chloe said.

Beca shook her head. “He’s being jealous of the wrong person.”

“Is that right?”

“I’m not walking around holding hands with Luke, am I?” Beca replied, unsure where this sudden surge of bravery had come from.

She was relieved when Chloe smiled and squeezed her hand again.

“Beca Mitchell,” she said, pulling them to a stop. “Are you flirting with me?”

Beca shrugged, also smiling. “Maybe? How would you react if I was?”

“Are you free for dinner tonight?” Chloe asked. Beca nodded. “Then I guess we’re going on a date.”

Beca didn’t know if she’d ever grinned that hard. She could feel her cheeks burning and found it very hard to maintain eye contact. “Cool,” she said.

Chloe laughed and they carried on walking.

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

“Better,” Beca said. “Still a bit… I dunno… Off. But better. Thank you.”

“Hungry?”

“Kinda.”

“Come on,” Chloe said, tugging her hand towards the campus parking lot. “I know a place.”

After a short drive they found themselves at a diner.

“Is this where you bring all your dates?” Beca asked, fiddling with her sleeves as the waiter poured coffee for them.

“Only the cute ones,” she said, smirking at the blush forming on Beca’s cheeks.

Once the coffee had been poured Beca reached out and wrapped her hands around the mug, sighing slightly and sinking back into the chair, as if whatever tension had been holding her up had now gone.

Chloe frowned and moved to sit next to Beca rather than opposite her. “Why don’t we let that cool for a bit,” she said taking Beca’s hand and holding it in her own.

“Sorry,” Beca said, looking fidgety again. “Sorry I’m still…” She clenched and opened her free hand a few times. “I still need to…” She let out a huff of frustration.

“Tell me how I can help,” Chloe said.

Beca bit her lip, her eyes darting. “Do you think they have ice here?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, confused. “You want some ice?”

Beca nodded. “I can ask-”

“No, it’s okay. They have like an ice water station over there. Is ice water okay?”

“Does it have ice in it or is it just cold?”

“It has ice in it,” Chloe said, still confused. “Two seconds.”

She stood and walked over to the station and poured a some ice water into one of the plastic cups before returning.

“Thanks,” Beca said. She reached into the cup and picked up one of the ice cubes.

Chloe wasn’t sure what she had been expecting but it wasn’t this. Beca squeezed the ice cube tighter, water dripping between her fingers and onto her jeans. She didn’t seem to care.

Her eyes were closed as she squeezed tighter.

“This helps?” Chloe asked softly, grabbing some napkins to clean up the water that had dripped onto the table and seat.

Beca nodded, sinking back into her seat again. Eventually she opened her eyes, and dropped what was left of the ice back into the cup.

“It’s just enough pain to help clear my head a bit, without it actually harming me,” Beca said, drying off her hands on her jeans.

“Will it be enough to stop you from, you know…” Chloe trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

“For now,” Beca said. “Once I’m out of this… dip, I should be able to just deal with it the way I always do. Sometimes though the urge gets too much and I need to resort to other methods.”

“Like what?” Chloe asked, wanting to understand better.

“Like the ice. Elastic bands work sometimes, if I snap them against my wrist. Distractions are probably the best. I can usually distract myself by making music, but when it’s really bad, like it was today, I need some help.”

“Was I enough?” Chloe asked.

“More than enough,” Beca said, taking Chloe’s hand.

“But you still needed the ice,” Chloe said.

Beca let out a small sigh as she tried to find the words to explain herself. “You helped me a lot today, Chloe. I probably would have relapsed tonight if it wasn’t for you. I should be okay now, I should be able to ride out the rest of this… episode. The ice just… calmed me down. It stopped me from, like, scratching my scars or picking at the skin around my thumb. It was just a way of giving me something to focus on while everything else calmed down.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, nodding, trying to understand.

“It’s like there’s an itch,” Beca said. “Even when the urge to cause real pain is passing, sometimes it leaves behind this itch. And I can scratch it. It’d be no big deal to just, scratch this little bit of skin here.” Beca pointed to a tiny scar on her thumb. “But like any itch, the more you scratch the worse it gets. So you keep scratching. Even after you’ve taken off some skin, even after you’ve started bleeding, you keep going. This niggling little itch won’t go away. And before you know it, you’ve given yourself another scar, but without any of the actual relief that comes from really hurting yourself. So instead of scratching, I use ice or an elastic band, or a hot mug if it’s all I have. That gives me just enough pain so I can focus. Focus on this one sensation until the itch goes away.”

Chloe picked up Beca’s hand, and wondered how many times Beca had given into this itch she had just described. She traced her fingers over Beca’s hand and wrist, and her thumb brushed gently against the scars hidden beneath her shirt sleeve.

“How long have you been dealing with this?”

“Since I was 14,” Beca said.

“Have you ever had any help with it?”

“No,” Beca said. “Some kids at school found out and they just teased me for it. Telling me I was cutting the wrong way. Stuff like that.” Chloe’s hand tightened involuntarily around Beca’s. “I get that this is a lot for you to take in. And if you need to take a step back I understand.”

Chloe shook her head. “There’s more to it than I thought,” Chloe said. “But I’m not going anywhere.” She looked up and then pressed a kiss to Beca’s forehead. “I promise.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Could you do a follow up to your Bechloe prompt the one where Chloe accidental reveals she used to have anorexia? Could you maybe do that Chloe has been sorta struggling for a couple of weeks- beca asks her if she’s okay and then they have a heart to heart about chloes anorexia or something?
> 
> For part 1 of this fic, please see chapter 14.
> 
> Originally posted 28 July 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Anorexia/eating disorders are discussed

“Chlo’?” Beca called through the apartment. “Are you home?”

She was tired after a long day at the studio, and was looking forward to spending the rest of her evening cuddled up with her girlfriend, eating pizza and watching trashy TV.

“Yeah,” Chloe called from the bathroom. A few seconds later, Chloe emerged, typing something into her phone.

“Oh are we just not flushing now?” Beca asked. “Are we at that stage in our relationship?”

“Shut up,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes but grinning. “I was in there to use the scales.”

“We have scales?”

“We do now, yes,” Chloe said, dropping down onto the sofa. “How was work?”

“Long,” Beca said. “And stressful. I’m starving, we didn’t get a chance to break for lunch. I’m running on coffee and a bagel I had for breakfast. Can we order pizza?”

“We should really stop spending so much money on takeout,” Chloe said.

“Please? From Tony’s? My treat?”

“I’m not really hungry,” Chloe said. “I ate when I got home.”

“Fine,” Beca moaned. She stood up and made her way to the kitchen. “But if we don’t have anything good in, I’m gonna order from Tony’s and eat the entire pizza myself. And then I’ll get sick and you’ll have to deal with it.”

“You could just order a smaller pizza,” Chloe said.

“Your logic has no place here, Beale,” Beca said, head in the freezer as she rummaged for food. “How was work?”

“Fine,” Chloe replied.

Beca paused, waiting to see if she was going to elaborate. Chloe always elaborated. Her day was never just good, or bad, or fine. There was always a story. Chloe could make even the most boring mundane day into a story that left Beca in stitches.

She shut the freezer and glanced around the kitchen. It was as clean as it had been when Beca left this morning, which lead her to believe Chloe hadn’t actually cooked anything.

Chloe was a firm believer that every dish, no matter what it had been used for, needed to “soak” before she could clean it. Which meant that Beca, who couldn’t stand dirty dishes in the sink, would end up washing them before they went to bed.

“What time did you get home?” Beca asked, trying to keep her voice casual.

“Like 5:30,” Chloe said.

Beca checked her watch, it was only 7 pm. Chloe usually waited for her to get home before making dinner or if she knew she’d be home late, she would save her something.

Beca left the kitchen and returned to the living room. Chloe was still looking at her phone, frowning.

“Find anything good?” Chloe asked.

“What did you make earlier?” Beca asked.

“Nothing,” Chloe said, glancing up from her phone. “I grabbed a sandwich from the deli on the way home.” Beca was still looking at her, as if trying to figure something out. “What?”

“Which deli?”

“The one on the corner.”

“Giordinos?”

“Beca, what are you doing?” Chloe asked.

“What are _you_ doing? Why do we have scales now?”

Chloe shrugged. “I just wanted to know how much I weighed,” she said, trying not to meet Beca’s eyes.

“Chloe,” Beca said softly, sitting down beside her. “You told me you’d speak to me if things started getting bad again.”

“Things aren’t getting bad,” Chloe said, still not looking at her. “I literally just bought some bathroom scales, you don’t have to be so dramatic.”

“You told me a few weeks ago that you used to have an eating disorder. And now you’re… you’re lying about skipping meals and you’re worrying about your weight and-”

“-wondering, not worrying,” Chloe said cutting her off. “And what makes you think I’m lying?”

“Giordinos shuts at 3 pm on Thursdays,” Beca said. “So unless you left work early you didn’t get a sandwich for dinner. And the kitchen is clean so I know you didn’t cook. And now you can’t even look at me. Babe, I’m not gonna be mad or judgmental or anything, you know that right? I meant what I said the other week, no matter what you’re going through I’m here for you. I _love_ you.”

“I love you too,” Chloe said, finally giving in and looking at Beca. She almost cried at the look of worry on Beca’s face.

“What’s going on, Chlo’? Did something happen?”

Chloe sighed. “You know that guy Derek I work with?”

“Tall guy with glasses? Kinda intense?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “He spoke to you for like 45 minutes about electronic keyboards when you said you worked for a record label.”

“Yeah, I remember him.”

“Well he has autism, so he can sometimes come across as a bit blunt without meaning to,” Chloe said. “He just… the other day he happened to mention that he thought I was gaining weight. And it kinda… It stuck with me. It’s been rattling around in there.”

“How long?”

“A week or so,” Chloe said. “I finally caved and bought some scales on my way home today and he was right, I have put weight on since I last weighed myself. It just made me feel bad.”

Beca sighed and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind Chloe’s ear. “You know I think you’re beautiful, right?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, smiling slightly. “But I still don’t feel good about myself. The thought of stuffing myself with pizza right now makes me feel sick. Like rewarding bad behaviour.”

“Bad behaviour? Putting on a little bit of weight isn’t bad behaviour, Chloe. It’s just part of being alive. You shouldn’t punish yourself for that,” Beca said. Chloe still looked unconvinced. “Look, if you don’t wanna eat unhealthy food, that’s okay, but you can’t just stop eating. We can start having healthier meals at home, I can get some recipes from Sheila or something, and we can cut back on takeout. We can eat more nutritional stuff, but no dieting. Healthy food, not less food, okay?”

Chloe rubbed at a spot on her forehead where a headache was forming. “Okay,” she said.

“How obsessive are you likely to be about weighing yourself?” Beca asked, leaning forward to kiss Chloe on the forehead.

“Pretty obsessive,” Chloe admitted.

“Okay, then I’m getting rid of the scales,” Beca said. “So, what do you want for dinner? I can make that curry thing you like?”

“It’s late,” Chloe said. “You can order pizza if you want.”

“And you’ll eat some?”

“Could you get me one of their salads?”

“They do salads?”

Chloe laughed and nodded, before she wrapped her arms around Beca, burying her face in the crook of her neck. “Thank you. I really love you a lot.”

“I really love you a lot too,” Beca said.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> I was wondering if you’d do a bechloe prompt where one of them has a miscarriage? Lots of angst please!
> 
> Originally posted 31 July 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Miscarriage

When they returned home from the hospital, the silence was deafening.

And that sounds cliché to say, but it’s the only way to describe it.

For a house that was usually so full of noise, so full of life, the silence was colossal. It was dominating. Devastating.

“Is this real?” Beca asked, a tone of bewilderment in her voice. Because surely this couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be real. Not after they’d waited for so long. Not after they’d gotten so close.

Chloe didn’t reply, and they didn’t speak again for the rest of the night.

Beca managed to shower before she crawled into bed. Washing away the blood and the smell of the hospital. Her hand kept gravitating towards her stomach. Desperate to feel _something_. A kick. A shove. A wriggle. Because maybe they’d made a mistake. Maybe they’d gotten it wrong. But no. Every time her hand touched her stomach, she knew.

When Chloe finally made it to bed, Beca had already cried herself to sleep.

Chloe faced the wall, their backs only a few inches apart, but there might as well have been an ocean between them. Chloe knew she should comfort her wife. Turn over and pull her close. Whisper reassurances. But she couldn’t. For the first time in her life, Chloe didn’t know what to say. There was nothing she could say to make this easier on either of them. And she didn’t want to rest her hand on that spot on Beca’s stomach, the place she had so often found herself drawn to these days , because she knew it would make it seem real. Acknowledging what they’d lost would make it real, and Chloe needed to pretend for a little bit longer.

When Beca woke the next morning, she had roughly twenty seconds of contentment. Sun was peaking through the curtains, warming their bedroom. She could hear birds outside, and the neighbour’s dog barking.

And then she remembered, and she was pinned to the bed by wave after wave of grief. With each breath she took, the pain got worse. Wordlessly, she reached out to where Chloe should be, but the space beside her was empty. She could hear movement in the house. The constant opening and closing of doors, the banging of cabinets, but nothing else. No music, no singing. The silence was still alien to her, but she’d get used to it.

While Beca remained paralysed in bed, Chloe began gathering up the things they’d bought in the last few weeks. Diapers, clothes, soft toys, bottles - all of it went into the nursery. Still half-painted. Forever half-painted. They never did decide on a colour and now they wouldn’t need to.

When Chloe was finished, their house looked the same as it had done almost five months ago, with one exception. Chloe hadn’t been able to bring herself to remove the photograph of the scan from their refrigerator. She closed the door of the nursery and vowed not to open it again.

She could not go through this again.

Over the next few days, Beca and Chloe existed like ghosts in their home. Not speaking, not touching, just drifting from place to place.

Beca stayed in bed mostly. The aftermath of what had happened had left her physically drained and made moving difficult and painful, and she didn’t have the emotional energy to fight through it.

Chloe found she couldn’t keep still. She would go for a run on a morning, out of the house before Beca had woken up, and would spend the rest of her day cleaning, tidying, answering work emails.

When they happened to pass each other in the hall, in the kitchen, leaving the bathroom, they left enough room between them so they didn’t touch. Neither knew if the other was doing this deliberately.

Neither even really noticed it was happening.

Any fear about what would happen to them and their marriage was buried beneath layers and layers of unrestrained grief.

When they spoke it was for purely practical reasons.

“Can you pass the milk?”

“Do you need anything from the store?”

“Is that your phone or mine?”

They were both used to the silence by now, and wouldn’t have noticed if it changed.

When Beca heard Chloe speaking on the phone to Aubrey or her mom, Beca couldn’t make out the words she was saying.

She couldn’t focus on anything but this loss.

Somewhere deep down, she wanted Chloe. She _needed_ her. There were moments at night, when Chloe would be lying beside her, both turned away, both feigning sleep, when Beca would get the urge to turn over. To seek some comfort. To reach out and touch her the way she used to.

But she was always too scared to make the first move. She didn’t know if Chloe blamed her for what had happened, and she was too afraid to find out.

The doctor had assured them this was no one’s fault. Sometimes, these things just happen. But Beca couldn’t help but shoulder the blame.

Sometimes she clung to that feeling, the way focusing on a paper cut might distract you from a stubbed toe, but it would never last long. A paper cut might distract you from a stubbed toe, but it couldn’t distract you from shotgun wound in the stomach.

For what it’s worth, Chloe didn’t blame Beca. Not for a second. Not once.

But Chloe knew she hadn’t made any effort to comfort Beca since that night at the hospital, and that had brought about her own guilt. She’d held her hand as the doctor explained what had happened, but somewhere along the way, she’d let it slip away, and hadn’t reached out to take it again.

She was scared of reaching out now, in case Beca rejected her. Telling her it was too little, too late. She couldn’t cope with that pain as well.

So they carried on existing this way for over a week.

Beca kept refusing to answer her phone and Chloe kept telling everyone who offered help that it wasn’t a good time.

They were two ghosts drifting around their home, lost in their own grief.

Until Beca’s body gave out on her.

She had been sitting on the sofa, ten days after the loss of their baby girl, staring into space. She had been sore for days, her back, legs and stomach aching and cramping. It made it difficult for her to sit in one spot for too long, and soon found the pain building again. She tried to push herself up from the sofa, but couldn’t manage it. Her body wasn’t cooperating, and the soft cushions of the sofa were offering no resistance. Her fists just sank deeper into them as she tried to push herself up harder.

“Chloe?” She called, the name feeling strange on her tongue. When had she last said it?

She heard the sound of fast approaching footsteps. The sound of Beca saying her name had broken through whatever thoughts she had been lost in.

“Beca? Did… Did you need something?”

“I can’t get up,” Beca said, jaw clenched against the pain. Chloe could see her arms shaking at the effort. “Can you help me?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. Beca allowed herself to relax and fell back into the sofa. “Grab my arms,” she said, her hands holding Beca’s forearms. Beca nodded, and did, her chest suddenly feeling tight at the feeling of her wife’s hands holding her. “Ready?” Beca nodded again and Chloe pulled her up, supporting her when it looked like her legs wouldn’t. “Okay?”

“Thanks,” Beca said, not wanting to let go. “Can… Can you help me get to the bathroom?”

“Of course,” Chloe said. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Beca said. “I’ve been aching really bad since… But it’s never been like this before.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been in pain?”

Beca left the question unanswered. Chloe wasn’t really expecting one.

“Give me a shout if you need any help?” Chloe said, closing the door behind her, giving Beca some privacy.

She hadn’t thought much about it, but now she realised now how much she’d missed hearing Beca’s voice. How much she missed the feeling of her. How much she missed _her_.

She heard the flush of the toilet and the sound of running water, and then Beca came hobbling out of the room.

“Were you listening to me pee, creep?” The lightness in her voice took them both by surprise.

“Just trying to make sure you could get off the toilet with those old arthritic knees of yours,” Chloe replied.

For the first time in ten days, they became truly aware of each other’s presence.

Tear filled eyes met, and they saw their own pain reflected back at them.

“Come lie down with me?” Beca asked, her voice a fraction of what it had been a moment ago.

Chloe nodded, and followed Beca into their bedroom.

They lay side-by-side, staring up at the ceiling, their hands millimetres apart, but still not touching.

“Do you blame me?” Beca asked.

“No,” Chloe replied, honestly. “I’m sorry I haven’t-”

“Don’t,” Beca said, cutting her off. “Don’t be sorry. I haven’t either.”

Beca took a deep breath, and reached out to take Chloe’s hand. The contact almost made her cry.

“I miss you,” Chloe said, threading their fingers together.

“I miss you too,” Beca replied, blinking back tears.

“And I miss her,” Chloe said, swallowing hard as they both continued to stare up at the ceiling.

“Me too,” Beca said, her voice breaking now. “I miss her so much. I miss feeling her move inside me. I miss her little kicks. I even missed the way she liked to lie on my bladder.”

Chloe let out a teary laugh. “What do we do?” She asked after a small silence.

“I don’t know,” Beca replied. “But I don’t want to do it alone anymore.”

“Me neither.”

And then Beca turned over, arms reaching out, searching for the comfort only Chloe could give. Chloe pulled her in close, arms wrapping around her, lips pressed against her hairline.

And they cried until they fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms for the first time in ten days.

The next morning they woke up and they continued to grieve, and morn. They continued to shut the world out. To eat less than they should. To avoid talking about it. To cry. They continued to struggle to cope with their loss.

Only now they did it together, and it made all the difference.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> unfamiliarsky said:  
> Don’t know if you’re still taking prompts, but I’m case you are: What about Chloe goes to surprise Beca at her dorm to congratulate her for getting a good grade and overhears her dad already there giving her a hard time cause it isn’t better?
> 
> Originally posted 9 August 2020

Chloe was almost giddy with excitement as she made her way to Beca’s dorm.

She was carrying celebratory cheesecakes and milkshakes from Beca’s favourite dessert place. She was planning to spend the rest of the evening pigging out and listening to music with Beca to celebrate her getting a good grade on a philosophy test she had been stressing about.

When she reached Beca’s door, her hands were too full to knock straight away. As she struggled to free a hand to knock, she heard raised voices coming from inside.

“It’s just not good enough, Beca!”

She recognised the harsh voice of Professor Mitchell, and her heart sank.

In her opinion, he was too hard Beca. In _everyone’s_ opinion he was too hard on Beca.

But Beca just took it. She had never once seen her stand up for herself where he was concerned. And she hadn’t known Beca that long, really, but she’d seen her argue with almost everyone else.

“I know I could have done better, but-”

“But nothing! You _should_ have done better. I did not pay for you to come to college to get grades like this!”

“Dad, I still passed.”

Beca’s voice sounded so hurt, and Chloe couldn’t stand to listen to him berate her anymore.

She knew he didn’t like to yell at her in front of other people, it wouldn’t be good for his reputation as a professor if it got out that her bullied his daughter, so Chloe knocked loudly on the door.

She heard him fall silent, and then the door was pulled open.

“Miss Beale,” he said.

“Hi professor,” Chloe said, looking past him to see Beca sitting on her bed, her elbows digging into her thighs, her hands resting on the back of her neck. Beca looked up at the sound of her voice. “Um, sorry to interupt, Beca and I were supposed to meet up and I got worried when she didn’t turn up or answer her phone.” She saw Beca almost smile. She turned to look back at Professor Mitchell. “I thought I heard raised voices, I got a bit concerned.”

She thought she saw him clench his jaw slightly, before he forced a smile.

“No raised voices here,” he said. “Must have been another room. Well, Beca if you have plans with your… friend, I’ll leave you to it. Think about what I said, I’ll catch up with you later.”

Chloe moved out of the way so he could pass, and she entered the dorm and closed the door behind her.

“Thanks for that,” Beca said, her voice was small and tired and it broke Chloe’s heart.

Chloe put the treats on her desk and then sat beside her on the bed.

“He’s wrong, you know?” She said, putting her arm around Beca’s shoulders.

“No he’s not,” she said, sniffing slightly and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Bec, you got a really good grade. You should be proud of yourself. I’m _so_ proud of you,” Chloe said, squeezing her into a side hug. “I can’t tell you how many papers and tests I flunked in my first year. And yeah, you could have gotten a higher grade, you can always get a higher grade unless you score like, 100% or something.”

“Thanks,” Beca said. “He just wants me to do well.”

“You are doing well,” Chloe said. “It’s crazy to me that he doesn’t see that.”

“He still thinks I’m wasting too much time on music.”

Chloe had to bite down on her lip to fight the sudden rush of anger. “Let’s not talk about him anymore,” she said. “He’s wrong. He’s so wrong, he’s like the dumbest professor I’ve ever met. You got an awesome grade, and I brought you some of that peanut butter cheesecake you love. We’re celebrating.”

Beca gave a small laugh, and Chloe felt her lean against her, her elbow brushing against her ribs slightly.

“Thank you,” she said.

Chloe knew Beca had trouble expressing her emotions, and that this little bit of initiated physical contact was her way of showing her appreciation.

“Okay,” Chloe said, smiling. “Our milkshakes are melting.”

Beca laughed and grabbed the cheesecakes and milkshakes from her desk. “You didn’t have to do this,” she said, handing Chloe hers.

“I know,” Chloe said. “But I wanted to. I’m really proud of you. You worked hard and you got a really good result. And your dad is wrong about you spending time on music. It’s never a waste a time.”

“I know that,” Beca said. “I wish I didn’t let him get to me so much. But he’s my dad, you know? I just want him to be proud of me.”

“I get that,” Chloe said. “But he should be proud of you just as you are. If he’s not, that’s on him. He’s the one losing out on all of your awesomeness.”

Beca laughed, taking a bite of her cheesecake. “Awesomeness?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “You’re full of awesomeness. Overflowing with it. Like, save some for the rest of us.”

“Shut up,” Beca laughed.

“I mean it,” Chloe said, nudging her knee against Beca’s. “I think you’re amazing. You’re just the coolest, most talented, sweetest person I’ve met.”

Beca felt herself blush. “I don’t know what to do when you say stuff like that to me,” she mumbled.

“Does it make you uncomfortable?” Chloe asked.

Beca shook her head, but still kept her eyes trained on her cheesecake. “It’s nice. No one’s ever really… No one’s ever been that nice to me before. I’m not used to it.”

“Well get used to it,” Chloe said. “Because I have an endless stream of compliments for you.”

“You’re… You’re the amazing one. You have this… wealth of patience and kindness and just… _goodness._ Everything about you is just so brilliant.”

“Are you saying that to me or the cheesecake?”

“Oh my god, shut up, I’m trying to be sincere,” Beca said, shoving Chloe away from her.

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said, laughing. “That was really sweet, Bec, thank you. Just promise me the next time your dad goes off on you, that you remember how awesome you are?”

“I’ll try,” Beca said.

“I’ll take it,” Chloe said. “How’s your cheesecake?”

“So good,” Beca said, laughing. “Like holy shit how do they make it so good?”

“I think it’s the crack,” Chloe said.

“Yeah, that’ll do it.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> octobersky22 said:  
> Early on in their relationship Beca is in an accident and sustains some non life-threatening injuries. Chloe insists that Beca moves in with her until she's recovered. Beca has a hard time being vulnerable, expressing her pain, asking for help, and in general accepting Chloe's unconditional love and care because she's never had someone to take care of her like that. Maybe Aubrey comes to knock some sense into her? Sorry I'm rambling lol. Thanks for opening up your inbox :)
> 
> Originally posted 19th August 2020

“Can you manage?”

“Yeah,” Beca said, jaw clenched slightly as she tried to climb out of the Uber that had taken them from Beca’s apartment to Chloe’s.

“Are you sure?” Chloe asked, taking Beca’s bags from the trunk.

“Ah ha,” Beca responded.

Chloe opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it. She knew Beca was finding this hard, and that she needed to let Beca do this at her own pace. _If she needs help, she’ll ask for it,_ she told herself.

It didn’t stop her worrying as she watched Beca finally succeed in lifting herself out of the car and up onto her crutches. Her broken leg, in plaster from the knee down, was dangerously close to bumping into the kerb and her arms were shaking from the strain of holding herself up.

By the time they made it up to Chloe’s apartment, Chloe could see the pain written across Beca’s face.

Beca dropped onto the sofa as soon as Chloe had opened the door. She propped her leg up on the ottoman in front of it and closed her eyes as she sank back into the cushions.

Chloe carried her bags through to her room before joining Beca on the sofa.

“Can I get you anything?” Chloe asked.

Beca shook her head. “I should go sort my stuff out.”

“That can wait,” Chloe said. She checked her watch. “You can take some more painkillers in a bit but you need to eat first. What do you want for dinner?”

Beca didn’t answer, but she put her hand on top of Chloe’s and squeezed.

“I don’t know how to do this,” Beca said, her voice quiet.

“Do what?”

“This,” Beca gestured at her battered and bruised body. “Being… weak. Needing help. I’ve always done everything on my own.”

“Well you’re not on your own anymore,” Chloe said, linking her fingers with Beca’s. “You’ve got me now.”

Beca squeezed her hand again. “Thanks.”

“So, dinner?”

Beca smiled. “Please. Just make me whatever you’re having?”

“You got it,” Chloe said, standing. “Two salads with olives, tomatoes and extra cilantro coming up!”

“Gross.”

After they ate Beca took some painkillers and soon found herself leaning heavily into Chloe’s side.

“Tired?” Chloe asked, playing with the strands of Beca’s hair that had fallen out of her ponytail.

Beca shook her head, stifling a yawn.

“I totally believe you,” Chloe said. “Come on, it’s getting late anyway.”

She eased Beca off her shoulder and stood, holding out her hands for Beca to take.

Beca hesitated before taking Chloe’s hands and pulling herself up. She closed her eyes briefly, forcing a slow breath out.

“Okay?”

She nodded, her grip on Chloe’s hands was almost painful, but Chloe didn’t say anything.

“Can you pass me my crutches?” Beca asked, once the wave of pain that had travelled up her back had passed.

Chloe did, and Beca hobbled her way into Chloe’s room.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Beca asked when she was in there. “I can sleep on the couch.”

“You’re my girlfriend and you were in a car accident a few weeks ago. I’m not letting you sleep on the couch, babe.”

“I feel bad,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at her bags which were taking up a sizeable chunk of Chloe’s already tiny bedroom.

“Hey,” Chloe said softly. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t okay with this. I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad I get to look after you.”

“You sure you don’t just feel obliged?”

“No,” Chloe said, gently cupping Beca’s face in her hands. “When they told me what had happened, and that you were in emergency surgery, and that it was gonna be…” Her voice caught in throat and she trailed off, shaking her head. “I almost lost you. I don’t want to be apart from you anymore. I _want_ you here with me.”

Beca blinked and a tear slipped down her cheek. Chloe brushed it away with her thumb before leaning down and pressing a kiss into her hairline.

“I love you,” she said, kissing her forehead now, her lips just missing the cut above her eyebrow.

“I love you too,” Beca replied. It wasn’t the first time they’d said it to each other, but it still felt new. It still caused an eruption of butterflies to flutter around in her stomach. “Can… Can you help me change?”

“Of course,” Chloe said, smiling softly.

Together they removed Beca’s hoody and sweatpants and replaced them with a baggy t-shirt and pyjama shorts.

Chloe tried not to wince at the bruising that still covered her arms and back.

“You good?” Chloe asked, helping her get comfortable.

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Excited to sleep in a bed that isn’t a hospital bed.”

Chloe laughed and climbed in beside her.

“Thank you,” Beca said, cuddling into Chloe as best she could without hurting herself.

“You’re welcome,” Chloe said, smiling at the feeling of Beca’s hand resting against her stomach. “Wake me if you need anything, okay?”

“Mm hm,” Beca mumbled, already almost asleep.

—

Chloe woke up with a start several hours later at the sound of something hitting the floor.

She instinctively reached out for Beca, but that side of the bed was empty.

“Beca?” Chloe asked, sleepily. She flicked on the bedside lamp and saw her bedroom door open.

She could hear Beca’s muffled cursing from outside.

Chloe hurried out of bed, finding Beca lying on the ground, struggling to get back up.

“I told you to wake me,” Chloe said, turning on the light and helping Beca into a sitting position, her back resting against the back of the sofa.

“I needed the bathroom,” Beca said, her jaw clenched in pain and frustration. “I can go to the bathroom on my own.”

Chloe bit back every sarcastic response that flew into her head, and forced herself to take a deep breath.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, my crutch got caught on the rug I think,” Beca said.

“Are you hurt?” Chloe said, worry flooding her. “Why didn’t you wake me so I could help you?”

“Can we do this later?” Beca asked. “I really need to pee.”

Chloe helped her up and to the bathroom, and then stood outside the door.

“I can’t go if you’re just going to stand out there,” Beca moaned.

“Fine, I’ll go wait somewhere else,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes even though Beca couldn’t see them.

She went and got a drink of water and picked up Beca’s crutches from the floor, placing them back in the bedroom where Beca would be able to reach them.

“Chloe?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, hurrying back to the bathroom.

“Um…” She could hear the hesitation in Beca’s voice. “Can…”

“Do you need help?”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “I can’t… I can’t stand up.”

“Okay,” Chloe said. “I’m gonna come in.”

Chloe opened the door and saw Beca sitting there with tears in her eyes.

“I don’t like feeling like this,” Beca said.

“I know,” Chloe replied.

She helped her stand and supported her at the sink so she could wash her hands, before half carrying her back to bed.

“Wake me next time, okay? What if I hadn’t woken up when you fell and you’d been stuck there all night? What if you’d hit your head or something?”

“I know,” Beca said. “It’s just… No one’s ever done this for me before. No one’s ever wanted to look after me and help me, not since I was a little kid. I just… I don’t want you to feel like I’m taking advantage. I don’t want you to resent me.”

“Baby,” Chloe said, stunned. “Never. I’d _never_ think that about you.”

“I’m sorry,” Beca said, wiping her eyes.

“Don’t be sorry,” Chloe said. “I know this is hard for you. You’re not used to being dependent, I get it. But you’re allowed to be. It’s okay to need to help every once in a while. Let me help you?”

Beca nodded and Chloe smiled, planting a small kiss on the corner of her mouth. “Good. Because otherwise I’d have to call Aubrey and have her yell at you until you gave in, and neither of us want that.”

“God no,” Beca said, laughing.

“You doing okay?” Chloe asked after a few minutes, once Beca had gotten comfortable again.

“Yeah,” Beca said. “A little sore.”

“A little?”

“A lot.”

“You want an ice pack?”

“You don’t have to-”

“Beca.”

Beca sighed but smiled. “Yes please.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Beca gets a new tattoo to honor the Bellas and another one for Chloe. Chloe finds out about them at a pool party
> 
> Originally posted 23rd August 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that this is so short. I also tweaked the prompt slightly because I don't think Beca would get a whole tattoo for Chloe.

“What is _this_?” Chloe asked, several vodka cranberries into the BU annual - a cappella only - pool party. Because, yes, that was a thing.

Her fingers lightly brushed against Beca’s chest, touching the tattoo which was just peaking out from under her bikini top.

Beca took a drink to try and hide the blush that crept over her cheeks.

“Did you get a new tattoo?” Chloe asked, wanting to see the rest of it but not wanting to make Beca uncomfortable by moving her bikini top.

“Yeah,” Beca said. She moved her top aside slightly to show Chloe the rest of it. “You like it?”

It was the Barden Bella’s ‘B’ logo done just over her heart, surrounded by a ring of blue - and one orange - flowers.

“I love it,” Chloe said, her voice softening. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Beca shrugged, “it’s kinda sappy.”

“It’s _very_ sappy,” Chloe said, grinning. “But I love sappy! Let me see it again.”

Beca moved the top aside and Chloe touched it again, pretending she didn’t notice the way Beca seemed to hold her breath.

“You know our colours are blue and yellow right?”

“I know,” Beca said.

“And you got an orange flower?” Chloe said, dropping her hand and making eye contact.

“I did,” Beca said, smiling and taking another drink.

“You’re not gonna tell me why are you?”

Beca shook her head. “Maybe later.”

“Boo,” Chloe said, pouting. “Well I’m gonna go find Stacie and drown my sorrows.”

“Just make sure you don’t actually drown in the pool,” Beca said. “I don’t want to jump in to rescue you again.”

“You’ll still do it though,” she said with a wink before she turned and walked away.

It was a few hours later and Beca was considerably drunker. She was barely holding herself upright and was a few steps away from falling into the pool when she felt a steadying arm slipping around her waist.

“Easy there,” Chloe said, pulling Beca close to her.

“Someone moved the pool,” she said, wrapping her arm around Chloe’s waist to steady herself.

“I know,” Chloe said, smiling. “You ready to head home?”

“Always,” Beca said.

They walked in silence for a while, both still holding onto each other, as they made their way back to the Bellas House.

“The orange flower is for you,” Beca said eventually. She felt Chloe’s grip around her waist tighten. “The Bellas are my family. And I wouldn’t have the Bellas without you. I wouldn’t have joined… I wouldn’t have stayed… Not without you. You’re the most important person in my life.”

“Beca,” Chloe said softly, bringing them to a stop. Her eyes were shining with tears. She pulled her into a hug, and Beca gripped her tightly.

“I love you,” Beca mumbled.

“I love you too,” Chloe said. “You’re my best friend.”

Beca ended their hug, her eyes drifting down to Chloe’s lips.

“Hey,” Chloe said, softly, placing a hand under her chin to tilt her head up. “Not like this. Not drunk.”

“But you do want to do it?”

“More than anything,” Chloe said, kissing the top of Beca’s head.

Beca’s face broke out into a grin and Chloe’s heart melted more. She kissed Beca on the cheek and slipped her hand into Beca’s, threading their fingers together.

“Let’s go home. You can show me that tattoo again and tell me how great I am,” Chloe said, smiling at the sound of Beca’s laughter.

“You just wanna see my boobs.”

“Well, yeah, obviously. But the tattoo is cute too.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> bechloe tattoo shop au? Beca gives Chloe a tattoo?
> 
> Originally posted 30 August 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’ve had this prompt in my inbox forever. I started writing it last year not long after I got my tattoo but it wasn’t going anywhere so I kinda gave up on it. But I just started watching Ink Master and I had to finish this prompt. 
> 
> It’s kind of pointless but I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, and now I’ve written it I might as well share it.

“Hi,” Chloe said, approaching the reception desk at Titanium Tattoos and Piercings. There was a blonde woman sitting behind the desk, spinning on her chair.

“What’s up?” She asked, with a heavy Australian accent.

“I have a consultation appointment,” Chloe said.

“Cool, what’s your name?” The woman asked, looking down at her computer.

“Chloe Beale,” Chloe said.

The woman nodded. “You’re meeting with Beca?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said.

“She’s in with a client right now, why don’t you take a seat and she’ll be out soon. My name is Fat Amy, give me a shout if you need anything.” Amy said, gesturing over to a collection of couches.

Chloe nodded and took a seat, her eyes roaming over the art that was hung around the room. She recognised a lot of it from Instagram, and she knew Beca was responsible for most.

Chloe waited for another 10 minutes before Beca came out, followed by a very pale looking man.

“Okay Jesse,” Beca said, patting him on the shoulder, “keep it clean, no swimming for a few weeks,and when it starts healing don’t pick it.” She handed him a sheet of paper. “Follow these instructions and take care of it yeah? If you get it infected it makes me look like a jackass.”

Jesse laughed. “Thanks, Beca.”

“Go give Amy your money and give us a call if you have any questions or anything,” Beca said. She spotted Chloe waiting. “Chloe, right?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said.

“Give me a couple of minutes to grab a drink and I’ll be with you. You want a coffee or anything?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Chloe said, watching Beca rush off to another room.

Chloe’s heart was pounding, and it was only partly due to nerves. Beca was _cute_. She had seen a picture of her on the tattoo shop’s Instagram but seeing her in person was something else.

Beca returned after a few minutes. “Chloe? Do you wanna follow me?”

Chloe nodded and followed Beca into the shop.

“Sorry I’m running a bit late,” Beca said. “My last guy got a bit lightheaded, we had to take a break.”

“No worries,” Chloe said.

Beca showed her into her room and asked her to take a seat.

“So, this is just a consultation, I’m not going to be sticking you with any needles today,” Beca said taking a seat next to her. “What is you’re wanting to get done?”

“I have a couple of reference photos,” Chloe said, pulling up her phone. “I want something kind of floral but a bit geometric too?” She handed Beca her phone who nodded and she swiped through the pictures. “And I also want to incorporate this ‘B’,” Chloe added, showing Beca a specific picture.

“Okay, cool,” Beca said. She rolled her chair over to her desk in the corner and came back with a sketchbook and pencil. She started drawing as she spoke. “The B isn’t your partner’s initial is it?”

“No,” Chloe said, laughing. “I’m single.”

“Can I ask what it’s for?”

“Don’t laugh,” Chloe said. “But, um, I’m graduating from college next month, and this is the logo of the a cappella group I’m in.”

She saw the corners of Beca’s mouth twitch as she carried on drawing.

“That’s cute,” Beca said.

Chloe laughed and felt herself blush slightly as she watched Beca draw. She was having a hard time focusing on anything else. Beca’s eye makeup was dark, her ears were pierced in several locations, and both arms had what looked like full sleeve tattoos.

She was distractingly attractive.

“You thinking colour or like black and grey?” Beca asked, glancing up.

“I was thinking black for the flowers and the shape, like kinda simplistic, not a lot of shading. But maybe we could do some colour in the logo?”

Beca nodded. “Awesome. Like the blue in this picture?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said.

“Where did you want it?”

“My ribs,” Chloe said.

This time Beca looked up fully and stopped drawing. “Is this your first tattoo?”

“No,” Chloe said, pointing at her tiny ladybug on her wrist.

“Cute,” Beca said, laughing softly. She ran a hand through her hair. “You sure about getting it on your ribs? It hurts like a bitch.”

“I’m sure,” Chloe said, laughing.

“Okay,” Beca said, grinning. “How big?” She moved closer and put her hands against Chloe’s ribs. “Like this?”

Chloe felt suddenly light headed. “Yeah,” she said, trying to keep her voice casual.

Beca nodded again. She turned her sketchbook over so Chloe could see and passed her phone back.

“So I can do something like this. You’ve got the geometric diamond shape here and that contains the flowers, but they’re sort of breaking that barrier here,” Beca said, pointing out different aspects of her sketches. “And then we can put the ‘B’ in the flowers but maybe a bit concealed? To give it some like depth.”

Chloe knew she should be focusing on what Beca was telling her, but she was having a hard time focusing when Beca was this close.

“Yeah, that’s awesome,” Chloe said, finally looking down at Beca’s sketches. “Exactly what I’m looking for.”

“Cool,” Beca said, grinning. “Can you send me that logo? I’m gonna draw up some more designs tonight.”

“Sure,” Chloe said. She airdropped Beca a picture of the logo. “I really love these designs, Beca. They’re perfect.”

“Thanks,” Beca said. “I’m glad you think so, you’re going to have this tattoo for a while.”

“So when can we do this?” Chloe asked, standing with Beca and heading back to the front of the shop.

“I might have some time tomorrow if you’re up for it?” Beca asked, heading behind the reception desk to check her schedule.

“Yeah, that would be great,” Chloe said. “I’m free all day.”

Beca began typing into the computer. “How about 3pm?”

“Sounds great,” Chloe said, feeling a rush of nerves and excitement. She knew her tattoo was going to hurt like crazy, but somehow she was more nervous about having Beca’s hands on her body.

“Sweet,” Beca said grinning and typing into her computer. “So, I would recommend you don’t drink any alcohol tonight and _please_ don’t drink any tomorrow. Make sure you eat too, I don’t want you passing out in my chair.”

“I don’t want that either,” Chloe said, laughing.

* * *

Chloe arrived the next morning with a stomach full of butterflies but feeling excited. She was looking forward to seeing Beca again and she couldn’t wait to get her new tattoo, despite how much pain she was about to go through.

Beca called her through after she had been waiting for a couple of minutes.

“I usually take a girl for a drink before I ask this, but can you take your shirt off?” Beca asked.

Chloe laughed and pulled off her t-shirt, leaving her in just her bra. “Can I keep this on?” She asked, tugging at her strap.

“For now, yes,” Beca said. “Let’s get the design on there and see how it sits.”

Beca placed a piece of paper against Chloe’s ribs and applied the stencil of her design. When she peeled the paper away, a blue stencil remained.

“Have a look in the mirror,” Beca said. “Try it on for a bit while I get set up. Move your arm around, see how that’s going to affect the tattoo. Just make sure you’re 100% happy with it. Anything you wanna change or add we can do no problem right now.”

Chloe looked at the stencil in the mirror and did what Beca advised, twisting her arm and side, making sure it didn’t distort the tattoo in any weird way.

She loved the design Beca had made, and she couldn’t wait to wear it.

“Happy?” Beca asked.

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “I love it.”

“Anything you want to change?”

“Nope,” Chloe said, stilling grinning at the design in the reflection.

“Okay, then let’s get started,” Beca said. She patted her chair which had been folded flat like a bed. As Beca pulled on a pair of black latex gloves, Chloe lay down on her side, her back to Beca’s chair. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, feeling her heart race as Beca placed her hands on her ribs.

“Here we go.”

Beca hadn’t been lying when she said the ribs hurt. Each line felt like a knife was being pulled slowly across her skin.

“How’s it going?” Beca asked after about thirty minutes.

“Yeah it’s uh, it feels great,” Chloe said.

Beca laughed. “Liar.”

“It fucking hurts,” Chloe said, laughing lightly.

“You need a break or anything you let me know, okay?” Beca said, wiping away some ink and blood.

“Will do,” Chloe said, clenching her hand as Beca carried on tattooing.

“How come you picked this design?” Beca asked, eager to keep Chloe’s mind off the pain she was putting her through.

“I just really wanted a way to commemorate the Bellas,” Chloe said. “They’ve been my family for like the last four years. They gave me confidence and - ah fuck - and a support system. That last line really hurt.” Chloe laughed, feeling tears prick her eyes.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Beca said. “We’re making progress though.”

“Good,” Chloe said. “What’s been your most painful tattoo?”

“My ribs for sure,” Beca said. “I had some big pieces planned for them but after I got some lyrics tattooed there I totally changed those plans. So if it makes you feel better, I think you’re metal as fuck right now.”

Chloe laughed again. “That does make me feel better.”

“Your next tattoo is gonna be way easier now,” Beca said.

“My next one?”

“Yeah you’re gonna get the bug, trust me,” Beca said, wiping away some more ink and blood. “It hurts like a bitch but I kinda like it.”

Whatever Chloe had planned on saying disappeared as a string of expletives flew out of her mouth.

“Damn I did not expect that from you,” Beca said laughing. She could see Chloe gripping the side of chair. “You doing okay?”

“Mhm,” Chloe replied, jaw clenched.

“No you’re not,” Beca said, stopping her machine. “We’re taking a break.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said, letting out a slow breath.

“Stay where you are, I’ll get you some water,” Beca said. She pulled off her gloves and dropped them in the trash. “If you wanna sit up wait until I’m back, okay?”

“I’m good down here,” Chloe said.

Beca left and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and a straw. She stretched her back out before heading back in.

“You still with me?” Beca asked.

“Sure am,” Chloe said.

Beca pulled her chair around so she was sat by Chloe’s head, and passed her the bottle and the straw.

“Your bedside manner is excellent,” Chloe said, smiling as she took a drink.

“I just don’t want anyone having a bad experience in my shop,” Beca said. “Plus if you passed out I’m way too tiny to lift anyone off the ground. You ready to finish this bitch?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, drinking some more and then putting the bottle down.

“Awesome,” Beca said. She pulled on a new pair of gloves, pulled her chair back up to Chloe’s side, and started her machine back up. “We’re almost done with the line work now. Then it’s just some shading and some colour.”

“Cool,” Chloe said, thinking it still sounded like a lot to do. “So have you got any tattoos you regret?”

“Uh, not really. I mean I have some kinda shitty tattoos, but I think even bad tattoos tell a story,” Beca said. “I do have an ex-girlfriend’s name hidden under a cover-up though. That’s why I’ll always try and dissuade a client from getting their partner’s name on them.”

Chloe laughed. “Yeah I think that’s good advice. Is there anything you’ll just refuse to tattoo?”

“Oh yeah,” Beca said. “I won’t do any Nazi shit, or any other racist stuff. Nothing homophobic or anything like that. Like it’s just a straight up no, and once I know they want something like that I won’t tattoo anything else on them either.”

“That’s awesome,” Chloe said.

“Yeah, I don’t want bigot dollars,” Beca said. She stopped tattooing and wiped down the ink and blood again. “Okay the outline is done.”

“Thank god,” Chloe said, letting out a breath of relief.

“You’re doing great,” Beca said. “Not much longer, I promise.”

As Beca carried on the tattoo, they carried on talking, each learning a little more about each other.

Chloe learned that Beca also made music, and spent a few evenings a week DJing.

Beca learned that Chloe volunteered at an animal shelter, gaining experience for when she went to veterinary school in the fall.

After hours of tattooing, Chloe was finally done.

Beca helped her up, and Chloe admired her new tattoo in the mirror.

“Beca, it’s so awesome,” Chloe said, grinning. “I love it.”

“I’m really glad,” Beca said. “Can I take a quick pick for the Instagram before I get you wrapped up?”

“Yeah, of course,” Chloe said.

Beca took a few pictures and then cleaned and wrapped Chloe’s new tattoo, before handing her a sheet of paper on aftercare.

“Please take care of it. No scratching, no picking, no getting it dirty,” Beca said. “Follow these instructions and you’re gonna have a beautiful, nicely healed, tattoo in about a month.”

“Thank you so much, Beca. It’s exactly what I wanted, it’s perfect,” Chloe said.

“You are very welcome,” Beca said. “You sat like a champ. I’ve had grown men cry in my chair getting their ribs done, you did great.”

“So, um, what’s the deal on drinking now?” Chloe asked.

Beca laughed. “Give it 48 hours at least. This sounds gross but you’re gonna be bleeding and… oozing for the next couple of days, you don’t really want to thin your blood.”

“I can drink by Saturday then?”

“Sure,” Beca said. “You got big plans?”

“No, I was just kinda hoping I could go on a date with this cute girl on Saturday,” Chloe said. Having survived her tattoo, she was suddenly feeling invincible.

“Sounds like a lucky girl,” Beca said.

“Beca, would you like to come for a drink with me on Saturday?”

Beca couldn’t stop the grin that spread over her face. “I see. I’m the lucky girl?”

“You can be.”

“Sure,” Beca said. “It isn’t often I get asked out by clients after I put them through three hours of pain. Let’s do this.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Bechloe prompt - Beca gets hurt or in a fight or something and Chloe takes care of her? I know you've done this kind of prompt before but I'm so soft for them taking care of each other
> 
> Originally posted 5th September 2020

Beca shifted in her seat slightly, her head resting against the car door as she watched the stream of blurred lights streak past the passenger window.

Her hands were still shaking but the adrenaline was starting to ebb away now to be replaced with waves of pain and fatigue.

As they came to a stop at a red light, she felt Chloe’s hand brush lightly through her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” Chloe asked, trying to keep the worry from her voice.

“I just wanna go home,” Beca said, her voice rough and quiet.

“Okay,” Chloe said, returning her hand to the steering wheel as the red light shifted to green. “Okay.”

They drove for a little longer before pulling into the parking lot near the Bellas’ House.

“You ready to talk about it yet?” Chloe asked as they walked towards the house. She noticed Beca was favouring one leg as she walked and her hand kept moving up to press against her ribs.

She had found Beca pacing and shaking outside of a bar downtown. The doorman of the bar was standing between her and a guy who looked like he was trying to get to her.

She’d driven down there in a panic after Beca had called, asking if she would come get her because some guy was hassling her after her show.

She hadn’t expected to find Beca like this. Physically shaking, glassy eyed, with blood on her knuckles, while some guy shouted and swore and fought to get to her.

“Not yet,” Beca said. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Chloe said, running her hand up and down Beca’s arm.

“Thank you for coming to get me,” Beca said as they approached the front door. “I, um, have another favour.”

“What is it?” Chloe asked, turning her key in the lock, relieved for Beca’s sake that the rest of the Bellas were either in bed or out for the night.

“I don’t want to have to explain this to Amy, yet,” Beca said, wincing against the bright light of the kitchen. “Can I… Can I stay with you tonight?”

“Of course,” Chloe said. “But I don’t want you bleeding all over my bed. Sit down, let me clean those hands up.”

“Thanks,” Beca said, sitting up at a stool, resting her hands on the counter, frowning at the sight of them.

She didn’t know if it was her blood or his that and dried on them, and the thought of it made her feel sick.

“Did you punch him?” Chloe asked, cleaning off the blood with a wet cloth. Beca hissed in pain as Chloe brought the cloth across the split in her knuckle.

“I think so,” Beca said. “It’s all kind of a blur.” She flexed her hands and winced again as pain shot through them.

“Did he hit you?” Chloe asked, her voice shaking slightly as she applied bandaids to the cuts on Beca’s knuckles.

“No,” Beca said. “He… grabbed me. And shoved me. I think I fell,” Beca rubbed her forehead, pain and exhaustion truly setting in. “Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, sniffing and wiping her eyes. She moved behind Beca and kissed the top of her head. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

Beca dragged herself off the stool and followed Chloe upstairs to her room.

“I’ll go grab you something to sleep in,” Chloe said before climbing the stairs to Beca’s attic bedroom.

When she came back, Beca was still standing in the corner, hugging herself.

“Here,” Chloe said, handing her some pyjamas.

“Thanks,” Beca said. Chloe turned away so Beca could change, but she had to fight not to turn around every time she heard her wince in pain. “I didn’t start it.”

Chloe turned to look at her. She could see that her arm was already starting to bruise, and that her hands were still shaking. Her eyes were downcast and tear-filled, and she was biting down on her bottom lip.

“Come here,” Chloe said, opening her arms.

Beca took a few steps towards her and allowed Chloe to pull her into a hug.

“I didn’t start it,” Beca said again, her arms gripping the back of Chloe’s shirt. “I know… I know I have a short temper.” Chloe could feel Beca fighting to keep her voice steady, so she held her tighter. “I know you don’t like it when I do that. But I promise… I tried to walk away from him. He kept giving me shit and… I tried to walk away but he grabbed me.”

“Hey, shh,” Chloe said, softly. “This isn’t your fault.” She ended the hug and cupped Beca’s face with her hands. “Some dirtbag hassled you and you fought back. I’m proud of you.”

Beca’s eyes filled with tears again. “I feel bad. I feel… guilty. Like I did something wrong.”

Chloe frowned, unsure what to say.

Beca closed her eyes, letting the tears fall. She took a shaky breath. “I don’t feel good. I feel... weird.”

“Sit down,” Chloe said, leading Beca over to the bed and rubbed up and down her back. “You’re okay, take a deep breath.”

Beca leaned forward and forced herself to take deep steadying breaths.

“You’re okay,” Chloe said again, rubbing circles on her back. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Beca carried on trying to regulate her breathing while Chloe rubbed her back.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” Beca said, finally feeling herself calm down.

“I’m really glad you called me,” Chloe said. “And I’m so sorry this happened to you. How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Beca said. “Sore.”

“Let’s get some sleep then,” Chloe said. “I can go crash in your bed if you want some space?”

“No,” Beca said. “Please stay.”

Chloe smiled and climbed into the bed, leaving enough space for Beca to get in beside her.

“You’re amazing, you know that right?” Beca said as she lay down next to Chloe, allowing her to pull the blanket over them and pull her close. “I’m so grateful for everything you do for me.”

“I’d do anything for you Beca,” Chloe said, kissing the side of her head. “You should know that by now. Try and get some sleep.”

“I love you, Chlo’,” Beca mumbled, finally drifting off.

“I love you too, Becs,” Chloe replied, tears burning her eyes.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> green-eyed-weirdo said:  
> I love your work and I’m so happy your inbox is open. Could you maybe do something with one of them being catfished? I have more specific ideas but I don’t want to limit your creativity so let me know if you want to brainstorm or what ever but you can totally take your own spin on it too! Thankssss! You’re awesome!!
> 
> Originally posted 15th September 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So. A few things.
> 
> 1\. I’m sorry this has taken so long to get to :(
> 
> 2\. As you know, I’ve never seen the show Catfish, and also someone did a Catfish prompt very recently.
> 
> 3\. So, as we discussed, this isn’t catfished based but more getting stood up based? Basically, I’m sorry, this fic is nothing like the prompt but I hope you like it anyway 🙈

Chloe tapped her fingers against the bar, playing the melody of the music that was playing, pretending she was sitting in front of her piano.

She was full of nerves, and took a large gulp of her white wine to try and combat them.

She checked her phone for what felt like the millionth time.

Her date was late. No calls, no texts, nothing.

“Can I get you another one?” The barmaid asked, nodding towards Chloe’s now empty glass.

“Uh,” Chloe glanced down at her phone, wondering how much longer she should wait. “Sure.”

“Might as well give them another ten minutes, huh?” The barmaid said with a smile and a wink. “Same again?”

“Please,” Chloe said, paying attention to the barmaid properly for the first time. She was cute. Very cute. And she didn’t look like she belonged in a place like this. This was a classy bar - way too classy for Chloe - and this barmaid’s heavily pierced ears and dark eye makeup stood out.

She focused on her phone again, and decided to call her date, hoping it would be a simple misunderstanding. Maybe Chloe had gotten the time wrong, or the location?

But even as she dialled and held the phone to her ear, Chloe knew that wasn’t the case. She could be a little ditzy, but she didn’t forget things like this. She might forget her keys every time she left her apartment, but if someone tells her to meet them at 7, she’s there at quarter to.

The call went to voicemail.

“Hi, you’re through to Charlie! Leave me a message-”

Chloe hung up with a huff of annoyance.

This was the second time Charlie had bailed on what was supposed to be their first date.

“No luck?” The barmaid asked.

“No,” Chloe replied, feeling embarrassed. “I should probably just call it a night.”

“Or,” the barmaid said, with a grin, “you could stay? Tonight doesn’t have to be a write-off, right?”

Chloe felt herself grinning too. “Are you trying to get tips out of me?”

The barmaid placed a hand against her chest in mock offence. “Never,” she said. “I just feel bad for you, I don’t want your night to be ruined. Plus I never get to talk to interesting people who are under 40 and don’t work in finance.”

“How do you know I’m interesting?” Chloe said.

“You’ve been playing piano on the bar for the past hour,” she said, and Chloe felt herself blush. “You’re a very talented musician.”

“Shut up,” Chloe said, laughing. “What’s your name?”

“Beca.”

“Nice to meet you Beca,” Chloe said, holding her hand out. “I’m Chloe.”

“Chloe,” Beca said, smiling and shaking her hand. Chloe liked the way her name sounded coming out of Beca’s mouth. “Would you like a fun drink, Chloe?”

“Here comes the up sell,” Chloe said, unable to stop herself from grinning. “Here I am, happily drinking the cheapest wine on the menu, and you come along and try and get me to order a $20 cocktail.”

“Damn, you got me,” Beca said, laughing. “Seriously though, this place doesn’t have fun drinks on the menu. Let me make you something. On the house?”

“Sure,” Chloe said. “Come make it in front of me though.”

“Smart girl,” Beca said.

“Won’t you get in trouble for giving out free drinks like this?” Chloe asked, watching as Beca added dashes of liquor from different bottles into a shaker.

Beca shrugged. “My dad owns the place so as long as I don’t steal from the cash register or anything I don’t think he cares. Plus everything on this menu is like triple the price of what it should be. No one’s going to miss a couple of shots of this or that.”

“Ah,” Chloe said, “so it was nepotism that got you here?”

“That’s right,” Beca said, laughing. “He thought I needed a real job. That’s the only reason I’m here. What do you do?”

“I work in finance.”

Beca laughed and Chloe’s face broke into a grin before she could stop it.

“I’m in veterinary school,” she said.

“You’re a student? You definitely can’t afford to drink in here,” Beca said, sliding a glass across the bar. “Here you go.”

Chloe took a sip and her eyes widened. “Oh my god, it tastes like Christmas!”

“I take it that’s a good thing?”

“Yes!”

Beca laughed again. She saw another customer approaching the bar. “Be right back,” she said, and she went off to serve them.

Chloe watched her leave, and tried not to stare. She took another sip and felt the warmth of apple and cinnamon spread through her again. She checked her phone and saw no new messages or missed calls.

The heat from the drink soon morphed into the heat of embarrassment and annoyance. She had been stood up by Charlie _again._

She decided to text them.

**Chloe: Hey, I’m guessing you aren’t coming. Please give me a text or just to let me know you aren’t like hurt or something. We can probably go our separate ways after that.**

“Uh oh,” Beca said, returning to see Chloe scowling at her phone. “You aren’t texting him are you?”

Chloe looked up, confused.

“Your date,” Beca said. “Never a good idea to text under the influence.”

Chloe turned her phone around so Beca could see her screen. “I’m a good drunk texter.”

“Damn,” Beca said, reading it. “Look at that, you’ve got commas and everything.”

“Told you,” Chloe said, grinning as she pressed send on the text.

“He’s an idiot, by the way,” Beca said. “What kind of fool would stand you up?”

“ _She’s_ an idiot,” Chloe said, smiling at the way Beca’s eyes seemed to widen, her eyebrows raising ever so slightly.

“Well,” Beca said. “If I was her, I wouldn’t stand you up.”

Chloe bit her lip and grinned. “Prove it.”

Beca smirked, and reached into her apron for a pen. She scribbled her phone number on a napkin and handed it over. “Name a time and place, Chloe.”

“Are you woking tomorrow?”

“Nope,” Beca said.

“Drink?”

“Absolutely,” Beca said, grinning again. “Not here though. Do you know, um, Coopers?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “I love it there. 7 pm?”

“It’s a date.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rejection-isnt-failure said:  
> Loving your series of one shots bud!! I, myself, am a massive fan of fluff and happiness (tooth rotting), how about a prompt where Beca is in LA with Khaled (post PP3) and she is finding it really tough, physically and mentally, especially knowing Chloe isn't there, she hasn't spoken to her in a while, and she believes her to be happy with Chicago elsewhere... and when she returns home... She finds Chloe there. Waiting. (Or the equivalent, where Chloe is engaged, Beca hasn't spoken to her in a while, and she comes home to see her there) xxxxx
> 
> Originally posted 19th September 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thank you so much! 
> 
> I might have gotten away from the prompt a little, but I hope you like it anyway.
> 
> I’m kind of tired and emotionally tonight so I don’t know if this is any good, and it’s kinda long so I hope that’s okay haha

“Beca, are you listening?”

_Chloe Beale is single._

“Mhm,” Beca said, pulling her eyes away from Facebook on her phone and looking back at Theo. “Sorry.”

“Everything alright?” He asked, knowing it wasn’t like Beca to zone out in a meeting like this.

“Yep,” Beca said, turning her phone face down. He raised his eyebrows. “It’s Chloe.”

He closed his eyes with a sigh. “Is it an emergency?”

“No,” Beca said, putting her hands in her lap to resit the urge to pick her phone up again. “I am super focused and professional.”

“Can we talk about your album for, like, ten more minutes?” Theo said, trying to keep up his face stern.

“Absolutely,” Beca said, her eyes dropping again, briefly, to her phone.

The meeting felt like it lasted a lifetime, but eventually Beca hurried out and back to her own office, puling Facebook up on her phone.

_Chloe Beale is single._

Chloe’s profile picture had changed from the sickeningly sweet picture of her and Chicago showing off her engagement ring, to just a simple selfie.

Beca clicked into her contacts list and her thumb hovered above Chloe’s name.

She should call her, right?

She scrolled down further, and hit call on Aubrey’s name.

“Aubrey Posen,” Aubrey said, using the same tone of voice she would use to greet a stranger, and not one of her closest friends.

“Aubrey what’s going on with Chloe?”

“I’m doing great Beca, thanks for asking,” Aubrey replied.

“Aubrey.”

“I don’t know,” Aubrey said, her tone softer. “She’s been unhappy with him for a while.”

“She has?”

“Yes,” Aubrey said. “When did you last speak to her?”

“It’s… It’s been a while,” Beca said, sounding guilty. “Work has been a bit much.”

“I know,” Aubrey replied. “You should call her.”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Thanks.”

“Speak to you later, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “I’ll call you.”

She ended the call with Aubrey but once again hesitated before calling Chloe. Apart from the occasional surface level text or exchange of snapchats and memes, she really hadn’t spoke to Chloe for a while. Not properly. Not the way they used to.

She was scared that if she called her now, Chloe would be mad at her.

She drummed her fingers against her desk, her stomach twisting slightly, as she tried to decide what to do. She never handled confrontation very well, it’s why she’d spent so much of her life just walking away from situations.

Beca picked up her phone again, and typed out a text.

**Beca: Hey Chlo’. I’ve just seen Facebook, are you okay? xx**

She hit send and closed her phone before she could overthink it, and tried to focus on her work again.

She had a bunch of album art she needed to look through and pick her favourites. (Yes, her job was pretty awesome.)

She also had twenty unread emails that had popped up in the ten minutes she had spent on the phone to Aubrey/deciding what to do about Chloe. (Yes, her job was also pretty demanding.)

As her phone buzzed on her desk with Chloe’s reply, Theo poked his head through her office door.

“What’s up?” She asked, resisting the urge to pick up her cell to read the message.

“Have you got plans tonight? Because you need to cancel them if you do,” he said, looking stressed.

“Why?” Beca asked with a sigh.

“The head of the label is coming in for a meeting tomorrow morning and he wants to hear your new album and it is nowhere near ready for that,” he said.

“Isn’t he in Europe?” Beca said with a groan.

“He is literally flying in for this meeting. There is a lot riding on this album, Beca,” he said. “He took a big risk when he signed you as a solo artist after the Khaled collab.”

“I know that,” Beca said, running a hand through her hair. “I know. But it isn’t getting released for another two months, why does he need to hear it now?”

“I don’t know how his mind works, I just know we need to impress him tomorrow,” Theo said.

“Okay,” Beca said.

“No distractions tonight, okay? Take an hour now and we can get started at,” he glanced down at his watch, “5:30.” He closed the office door behind him, and Beca immediately picked up her phone, pushing away the sudden wave of nerves.

**Chloe: I’ve been better xx**

**Beca: Are you free right now? xx**

**Chloe: Yeah, I just finished work. xx**

Beca called Chloe, this time without hesitation, and the redhead answered on the second ring.

“Hey,” Chloe said, her voice sounding heavy.

“Hi,” Beca replied, sinking back into her chair at the sound of Chloe’s voice. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed hearing it. “What happened?”

“Can we not talk about it?” Chloe asked. Beca could hear the sound of New York traffic over the phone and she felt suddenly homesick.

Not for New York specifically, but for that tiny apartment she and Chloe had shared in Brooklyn. For that level of closeness and intimacy.

She liked L.A. fine, and her new home was, on paper, a thousand percent better than the Brooklyn apartment, but it still didn’t feel like home. She would trade her state-of-the-art kitchen, king-sized bed, hot-tub - all of it - for one more night in that apartment. One more night sleeping beside Chloe. One more night where Chloe’s arms would snake around her waist and pull her close, mumbling that she was cold. One more morning eating breakfast together before they parted for work. One more evening making dinner and watching trashy TV.

What made it hurt more was that she knew there was no going back to that apartment. Chloe had moved in with Chicago, Beca had moved out to L.A., and Fat Amy was somewhere in the Bahamas. Someone else was living in their apartment now. Sleeping in their cramped bed, making food in their kitchen.

“How’s work?” Chloe asked, breaking Beca out of her thoughts.

“Busy,” Beca said. “It’s… It’s a lot right now.”

“Are you taking care of yourself?” Chloe asked. And Beca thought just how like Chloe that was. While she was going through a heartbreak, she’d rather make sure Beca was okay.

“I thought that was your job,” Beca said, smiling at the soft laugh Chloe gave. She could hear the sounds of keys jingling and a door opening.

“That’s kinda hard to do when I’m all the way in New York,” Chloe said. “God it’s so cold outside. I need a vacation.”

Beca glanced at the sun streaming through her office window. “Maybe you should come to L.A.,” she said, without really thinking. As soon as the sentence left her mouth, she realised this was something she wanted more than anything right now.

“That would be nice,” Chloe said with a laugh.

“I’m serious,” Beca said, feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement.

“Come on, Becs. I can’t do that,” Chloe said. “I have work.”

“Take some time off?”

“The flights are expensive-”

“-I’ll pay for the flights,” Beca said, cutting her off. “I think… Chlo’ I think I need this. I need some time off. And I think you need it too?”

“Yeah, I need it,” Chloe said. “Are they even gonna let you have time off?”

“I can ask,” Beca said. She looked down at her watch and saw she only had ten minutes before she had to get back to work. “Look, if you want to come, I can make it happen. I’m working for the rest of the night, but give me a call tomorrow afternoon.”

“Okay,” Chloe said. “I’ll call my boss.”

“So you want to come?”

“Yeah. Yeah I want to.”

* * *

Beca glanced around her nervously as she stood at the arrivals gate of L.A.X. airport a week later. She was wearing a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses but she was still afraid someone would recognise her.

Then she caught sight of ginger hair and suddenly Chloe was walking towards her and Beca felt her nervousness drain away.

Chloe grinned when she spotted her, and started walking more quickly, practically running by the time she got close enough to hug her. She dropped her case and flung her arms around Beca, squeezing her into the tightest hug she could manage.

Beca was going to make some sarcastic joke, but the feeling of Chloe’s arms around her caused her voice to die in her throat and her eyes to fill with tears.

“I’ve really missed you,” Chloe said, squeezing tighter and planting a kiss on her cheek and releasing her.

“Missed you too,” Beca said, grabbing the handle of Chloe’s case. “How was your flight?”

“It was fine,” Chloe said, grinning. “Why are you dressed like a spy?”

“Um, because I am?” Beca said, laughing. “I just don’t wanna get spotted.”

“Right,” Chloe said. “You’re a big deal now.”

Beca laughed and shook her head. “It’s a lot,” her voice was a little quieter.

Chloe frowned slightly, and then her eyes widened as she saw a few men with cameras hovering outside the entrance to the airport.

Beca sighed. “Just ignore them and stick close to me.”

They walked out of the airport quickly, and as soon as the men spotted her, they started yelling.

“Beca! Beca! How’s the album going, Beca?!”

“Beca! What do you say about the rumours that you’re dating your producer?!”

“Holy shit,” Chloe muttered under her breath as they made their way to Beca’s car, the paparazzi following them, continuing their barrage of questions.

“Beca! Introduce us to your friend!”

“Beca is it true you’re dating-”

Whatever name he was planning to say was lost in the sound of Beca slamming her door shut, and starting her car. She honked the horn a few times to get them to move out the way.

“Beca, what the fuck was that?” Chloe asked, pulling on her seatbelt as Beca pulled out of the parking lot.

“Fun, right?” Beca asked, glancing in her rearview mirror, making sure they weren’t going to follow her home.

“Does that happen every time you go out?”

“Not always,” Beca said. “To be honest they were probably there just hanging about to see if anyone would turn up. I don’t think they knew I was there before they saw me.”

“Jesus,” Chloe said. “I forget you’re like a legit celebrity now.”

Beca pulled a face. “I’m not. Not really.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Beca said, glancing over at Chloe. “Yeah, just… Just really looking forward to this time off. I had to work a lot of late nights to get Theo to agree with this.” Chloe frowned. “You know that guy was full of shit, right? There’s nothing going on between me and Theo. I haven’t been dating him. I haven’t been dating _anyone_.”

“Why not?” Chloe asked.

“Why not, what?”

“Why haven’t you been dating anyone?”

Beca shrugged. “I haven’t met anyone I liked.” They were quiet for a little while longer as they continued to sit in L.A. traffic. “So, can we only talk about my love life or are you going to tell me about you and Chicago?”

“There’s nothing really to tell,” Chloe said, turning to look out of the window now they had gotten off the highway. “I just… It wasn’t working. We were fighting a bunch. I wanted him to be different and he wanted me to be different.”

“I’m sorry, Chlo’,” Beca said.

“It’s okay,” Chloe said. “It’s better in the long run. At least we weren’t married with kids before we figured it out.”

They sat in a comfortable silence as Beca drove them the rest of the way to her house, the radio playing quietly.

When Beca pulled up to to her house, Chloe let out a low whistle.

“Right, you live in a fucking mansion now,” she said.

“It’s hardly a mansion,” Beca said, feeling embarrassed. She took Chloe’s bag from the trunk and they made their way into the house. “You want the tour?”

“Please.”

Beca showed her around, dropping her bag into the guest room. The tour ended on the deck, and Beca grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses from the kitchen on the way. They sat in comfortable loungers and looked out as the sun set over L.A..

“I’m really glad you’re here,” Beca said, pouring them some wine.

“Me too,” Chloe replied, cheers-ing her glass against Beca’s. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“Anytime, Chlo’.”

As they sat in silence watching the sunset, Beca felt a warmth spreading through her chest. For the first time since moving to L.A., she felt like she was home. And then she realised something.

Something she’d known all along, really.

She glanced across at Chloe, who was smiling with her eyes closed, letting the sun soak into her.

Chloe.

Chloe was her home.

She placed her hand on top of Chloe’s and squeezed, softly.

Chloe opened her eyes and looked over at Beca, still smiling. She adjusted her hand so her fingers were threaded with Beca’s.

Beca looked away, blinking against the sun and feeling tears stinging her eyes.

If Chloe noticed, she didn’t mention it. She just carried on smiling, and turned back to face the sunset, their hands still linked.

“It’s beautiful out here,” she said.

“Yeah,” Beca said. “I feel like I never actually get to relax out here. I spend so much time just sleeping at my office these days.”

“I knew you weren’t taking care of yourself,” Chloe said.

“There’s just been a lot of pressure at work. This is my first solo album, and if it fails… If it doesn’t do well everyone will know that my last one was only a success because of Khaled,” Beca said. “I can’t fail at this.”

“You won’t fail,” Chloe said, softly. “You’re so talented, Beca. You’ve got this, I know you do.”

Beca smiled. “I wish I didn’t have to do it without you.”

“You don’t,” Chloe said. “I’m only on the other end of the phone. You can call me anytime.”

“It’s not the same,” Beca said. “Sorry, I just miss how things used to be.”

“I know. I miss it too,” Chloe said.

“If I’d known things wouldn’t stay that way forever, I might have done things differently,” Beca said.

“What do you mean?”

Beca shrugged, feeling like she should stop talking before she said something she’d regret. She didn’t want to cause an awkward situation that they both had to live with for the two weeks of their vacation.

“Don’t go quiet on me now,” Chloe said.

“I just wish I’d been more honest. Braver,” Beca said, avoiding looking at Chloe.

“It’s not too late,” Chloe said.

But Beca shook her head. “Sorry. I’m… I’m rambling. I’ve probably drank too much.”

“I guess it’s getting late,” Chloe said, letting Beca’s hand drop. “We’ve got a long day of relaxing ahead of us, right?”

“Yeah,” Beca said. She stood and stretched and helped Chloe to her feet. “If you get hungry or anything during the night just help yourself.”

“Thanks,” Chloe said, kissing Beca on the cheek. “We’ll finish this conversation tomorrow, okay?”

Beca laughed, and felt her cheeks burn. “I dunno what you’re talking about.”

“Night Becs,” Chloe said.

“Night.”

Chloe woke a few hours later, her head hurting from too much wine and sun and not enough water.

She made her way to the kitchen and drank what felt like her body weight in water. As she was about to head back, she heard noises coming from Beca’s office.

The door was open and a dim light was creeping onto the landing.

Chloe peaked inside to see Beca sitting cross-legged on her chair, her hair tied up messily, the light from the computer screen the only light in the room.

She was talking to someone on the phone, her voice a little hoarse.

“No, I get that Theo,” she said, her hand resting on the back of her neck. “But when I spoke to you yesterday, the track was fine.” She watched as Beca tucked the phone in between her ear and shoulder and the began typing into her computer. “Uh huh. So like, more bass? Less bass?” She stopped typing. “I don’t know what you mean by the same bass but different.”

Chloe had heard enough and stepped into the room.

She placed a hand on Beca’s shoulder and tried not to laugh when she jumped. She held out her other hand for Beca’s phone.

Beca sighed and handed it over.

“Hi Theo,” Chloe said, smiling. “It’s Chloe. You remember me from the USSO tour, right? It’s 2 am, and Beca’s on vacation. I know. I’ll pass your apologies on. Goodnight Theo.”

She clicked end on the call and passed the phone back.

“Theo said sorry.”

Beca laughed and put the phone down. “Thank you.”

“Does this happen often?”

“Oh yeah,” Beca said. “Theo and I are both kinda nocturnal so sometimes he’ll call me with ideas.”

“No wonder you look so tired,” Chloe said.

“Gee thanks.”

“Come on, it’s bed time.” Chloe took her hand and pulled her up. “This room is off limits while you’re on vacation, okay?”

“Yes ma’am,” Beca said, smiling. “How are you finding the guest room?”

“It’s nice,” Chloe said, as they hovered outside Beca’s room. “Why?”

“No reason,” Beca said.

“Becs, you can just say it you know?”

Beca laughed, and looked down. “I can’t. I’m not good at this.”

“Okay,” Chloe said. She pushed Beca’s bedroom door open and gave her hand a tug. “Come on.”

“Chloe,” Beca said softly, closing her eyes when Chloe cupped her cheek with her hand. “Wait.”

“Hey,” Chloe replied, her voice just as gentle. “Look at me. Tell me what you need.”

Beca swallowed hard, tears burning her eyes. “I’ve… I’ve been waiting. That’s what I wanted to say before. Why I haven’t dated anyone since Jesse. I’ve been waiting for you. I… I waited to tell you and I waited too long.”

“It isn’t too late,” Chloe said, pulling Beca into a hug. “You can tell me now, it isn’t too late.” She felt Beca take a deep breath, and when she spoke her voice was muffled by Chloe’s shirt.

“I’m in love with you. I’ve always been in love with you. And I know you and Chicago just broke up. I don’t need to hear it back.”

Chloe ended their hug and cupped Beca’s face in her hands again, her thumbs brushing away the tears.

“I wanted Chicago to be different than he was. That’s why we didn’t work out. I wanted him to know what I needed without me having to ask. I wanted him to know when I needed a tea instead of a coffee. I wanted him to bring me an aspirin when I was two hours into a study session because he knew I’d have a headache by then. I wanted him to know when I wanted to talk, and when I just needed to sit and listen to music. I wanted him to _know_ me. I wanted him to know me the way you know me. I wanted him to be you, Becs. And… And when I realised that… When I realised it was _you_ that I wanted… You that I was in love with… That’s when we broke up.”

“You love me?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Yeah I love you.”

Beca let out a teary laugh.

“Can I kiss you?”

Beca nodded, and Chloe’s mouth was on hers, and Beca knew she was home.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Beca doesn’t like horror movies but the Bellas make her watch one?
> 
> Originally posted 28th September 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it is almost spooky season!
> 
> This kinda turned more serious than I think the prompt was intending but oh well! 
> 
> Hope you like it!

Beca Mitchell didn’t like horror movies.

She didn’t like horror TV shows.

She didn’t like scary games, ghost stories, horror novels, haunted houses - any of it.

She didn’t like being scared.

So whenever a horror movie was suggested by the Bellas for one of their Sunday movie nights, Beca would just excuse herself with an “I’m good” and leave them to it.

And Beca prides herself on being good at saying no to people. In her opinion, “no” was a complete sentence.

Until she met Chloe Beale of course.

Chloe had a way of convincing her to do things she wouldn’t normally.

She was a hard person to say no to.

Not impossible. Just hard.

“Come on Becs,” Chloe had said, doing that irresistible pout that she did _so_ well. “I need someone to keep me safe.” She was patting the space on the sofa next to her.

“I don’t…” Her voice trailed away, just looking at Chloe’s puppy-dog eyes.

She could have said no.

She was _about_ to say no.

But then Fat Amy started doing a quiet impression of a chicken, that got slowly louder.

And Beca’s an adult now. She isn’t the type to get goaded into doing something she doesn’t want to out of fear of people making fun of her.

But then Chloe let out a small giggle.

She could deal with the Bellas laughing at her.

She couldn’t deal with _Chloe_ laughing at her.

So she gave in. She walked over to the sofa and pushed herself into the corner beside Chloe.

She didn’t even get that balloon of happiness that usually followed Chloe cuddling into her side.

She just felt dread, because she knew what was coming.

The movie itself wasn’t _really_ that scary. The acting was bad, the story was boring, and the jump scares were predictable.

When the jump scares happened, Beca didn’t shriek like Jessica and Ashley, she didn’t squeeze her eyes shut and hide her face like Chloe, and she didn’t curse loudly like Amy.

If you were looking at her, you’d guess that the film was having no effect whatsoever, but Chloe could feel how tense she was beneath her. She could feel her body quietly jerk at each scare. Could hear her heart beating beneath her head.

20 minutes towards the end of the movie, Amy excused herself from the group.

“Booty calls!” She said, pulling on her shoes and coat, preparing to head to her midnight rendezvous with Bumper.

“Are you going to be out all night?” Beca asked, speaking for the first time since the movie started.

“That’s usually how it goes,” Amy said. “Don’t wait up. In fact, don’t expect to see me for about a week.”

Chloe felt Beca deflate beneath her, and was about to ask if she was okay, before Stacie hit play on the movie, and she was pulled back in.

When the movie finished, Chloe sat up and stretched her back.

“Thanks for keeping me safe,” she said to Beca with a wink. Her smile faltered when she saw the expression on Beca’s face. She looked almost angry. “Are you okay?”

“Please,” Beca said, her voice quiet so only Chloe could hear, “please don’t ask me to do that again.”

Chloe looked puzzled. “Are you really… it wasn’t _that_ scary.”

“The movie isn’t the problem,” Beca said. “It’s what comes next.”

Chloe opened her mouth to ask Beca to elaborate, but she was already walking up the stairs without saying goodnight to any of them.

“What’s up with her?” Stacie asked, helping Chloe tidy up as the other Bellas started filing off to bed.

“I dunno,” Chloe replied. “Should I go check on her?”

Stacie shrugged. “She’s probably just annoyed that she had to watch a dumb movie instead of working on her mixes or something.”

Chloe didn’t think that was it, but she hadn’t liked the look on Beca’s face after the movie had ended. She didn’t deal with people being upset with her well, and she wasn’t even sure what she’d done wrong. If Beca really hadn’t wanted to watch the movie, she should have just said so.

Plus she knew by now that pushing Beca to talk about something that she didn’t want to talk about would only make her clam up more.

So Chloe decided to let her cool off on her own.

Beca knew where she was if she wanted to talk.

* * *

Beca felt okay while she could still hear the rest of the Bellas milling around the house.

From her attic room she could just make out the sound of them climbing the stairs to their respective floors. She could hear them calling out sleepy goodnights to each other, and she could hear indistinct chattering and soft giggling coming from Jessica and Ashley’s room for a little while after.

It’s when the house finally fell silent that Beca knew she was in trouble.

When the sounds of muffled voices and soft footsteps were replaced by the house creaking and the wind whistling through the shoddy window she could never fully close.

When the shadows in the corners of her room began morphing into figures.

She could already feel the familiar cramping in her legs and the cold sweat running down her back.

She wished Amy was here.

Closing her eyes was no good because she was too terrified that there would be someone there when she opened them. Watching her. Waiting for her.

Her bedside lamp stayed on, and she fumbled for her laptop, searching for something to play to drown out the horrible silence.

Her hands shook as she loaded up her iTunes library, hitting play on the first song her curser fell on.

She hoped it would be enough to keep her mind from wandering. From spiralling.

She knew she’d get no sleep tonight. She wouldn’t let herself.

She was in for a rough few nights.

As a child she’d been plagued by nightmares and night terrors. She’d spent so many nights curled beneath her blanket, legs tucked against her chest. Her legs would cramp and ache but she couldn’t stretch them out until she saw the sun the next morning. Because while the room was dark, she knew hands were waiting to pull at her legs the second she moved them.

She wouldn’t allow herself to feel the relief of the cold bedroom air on her face until sunlight had driven the shadows away from her.

Her parents had always said the same things to her.

_It’s just a dream._

_They can’t hurt you._

_None of it is real._

_Go back to bed, you’re too old for this now._

So eventually she stopped telling them about it.

She knew the nightmares weren’t real, but the fear was.

Her nightmares had gradually stopped during her teen years, but they would always come back with a vengeance whenever she gave them the opportunity.

When she was at a sleepover aged 14, and her friends had put on the Blair Witch Project, she’d been too embarrassed to say no.

And really, the film was fine. Not particularly scary.

But it was what came after.

The mostly sleepless night punctuated by nightmares. The moving shadows around the room that looked like hands reaching for her. The sound of the cat scratching at the door, and the dog whining - _constantly whining -_ from the next room.

When morning came and her mom and her boyfriend arrived to pick her up, she could honestly say she’d never been so happy to see them.

She thought that would be it, but the next night was the same, and the night after that.

She got in trouble for falling asleep in class and her mom had confiscated her laptop, assuming Beca had been up all night making mixes again.

Beca couldn’t tell her the truth.

After a few days the nightmares and the gripping fear faded away, and Beca vowed never to let it happen again.

She knew if she allowed that door to be opened, her mind would start to spiral as soon as the credits on the movie rolled.

If she read creepy stories online like a lot of her friends in high school did, she was fine until she closed out the tab and tried to sleep.

Ghost stories around a campfire were fun and games until the fire went out and Beca was alone with nothing but her thoughts.

So she’d stopped doing those things that triggered this response in her.

None of it was worth it.

There was no movie good enough to warrant the _terror_ and the three or four sleepless nights that would follow.

Beca was good at saying no.

No was a complete sentence.

And now she’d screwed up.

With her eyes fixed on the shadow standing beside her door, she curled herself up on her bed, feeling every bit as small and scared as she had done as child.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Chloe entered the kitchen the next morning to find Beca sitting at the table, her hands wrapped around a mug of coffee.

“Morning,” she said, trying to sound casual, and not at all worried that, for some reason, Beca was mad at her.

Beca jumped slightly before looking up. “Morning,” she said.

She looked terrible.

“You’re up early,” Chloe said, trying to gauge Beca’s mood.

“Didn’t really sleep,” Beca said, rubbing at her eyes.

“You don’t have class until this afternoon, right? Why not go take a nap?”

Beca just smiled and shook her head.

Chloe thought about what Beca had said the night before.

_The movie isn’t the problem. It’s what comes next._

“Are you okay?”

And Beca thought about telling her, but she still felt embarrassed.

She was 21 now - a legal adult - she shouldn’t still be too scared to sleep after watching a film that wasn’t even that scary. About how she couldn’t take a nap now, because soon she’d be the only person in the house, and she couldn’t deal with that silence.

She remembered the giggle that Chloe had let out when Amy had called her a chicken.

She didn’t want Chloe to laugh at her again.

“I’m fine,” Beca said.

* * *

That night, Chloe had woken up to use the bathroom at about 2 am.

On her way back to bed she happened to glance up at Beca’s room. She could see light spilling out from under her door, and she thought she could hear the sound of muffled voices followed by canned laughter.

She assumed Beca had fallen asleep watching Netflix on her laptop again.

The light was unusual, but it didn’t worry Chloe too much.

Beca had looked exhausted that morning, so Chloe assumed she’d fallen asleep before turning it off for the night.

She made her way back to bed.

* * *

The next morning, Beca looked worse, but she had been hurrying off to an early class and Chloe didn’t have a chance to ask her if she was okay.

She vowed to talk to her properly when she got home that night.

When she arrived home after her last class of the day, the kitchen was full of noise and energy.

Every Tuesday, the Bellas made and ate dinner together. It was the one night of the week they were all guaranteed to be there - along with Sunday movie nights.

“Where’s Beca?” Chloe asked, surprised she wasn’t in there with them.

“Dunno,” Stacie said, adding another pinch of salt to the dish they were making, despite Flo’s objections.

“She went through to the living room when she got home,” Cynthia Rose said. “But she looked kinda beat to be honest, maybe she just went straight to bed.”

Chloe headed into the living room, expecting to see Beca’s bag or shoes dropped haphazardly on the floor (as she so often did) but not expecting to see the girl herself.

Beca was tucked into the corner of the sofa, her head resting on her folded arms, fast asleep.

Chloe didn’t want to wake her, but she knew Beca would end up with a sore neck and pains in her arms and legs if she left her sleeping like this.

She reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of Beca’s face.

“Hey,” Chloe said softly. “Wake up.”

Beca groaned and tried to push Chloe’s hand away.

“Come on,” Chloe said, laughing lightly, “you can’t sleep like this, you’ll hurt your neck.”

After some more quiet coaxing, Beca eventually sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“What’s going on with you?” Chloe asked, hoping she’d get a truthful answer, knowing that Beca’s defences were weaker when she was like this.

“‘m tired,” she mumbled.

“Did you not sleep again last night?”

Beca shook her head and yawned.

“Why don’t you go to bed? You’ll be able to get some proper sleep without the listening to that racket.”

“I like it,” Beca said.

“The noise?”

Beca nodded, and rubbed at her eyes again, trying to wake herself up. “Makes me feel safe.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, not really understanding. “Do you want to come help with dinner then?”

Beca looked like she wanted to say something else, but she seemed to be more aware of herself now she was waking up, and so shook her head.

“I think I’m just gonna go to bed,” Beca said. “Can you tell the others I’m sick or something?”

“Yeah, okay,” Chloe said, frowning as she watched Beca make her way upstairs.

* * *

Chloe found it hard to sleep that night. She was worried about Beca.

It was after midnight when she left her room to look and see if Beca’s light was on again.

It was.

This time she could hear the soft sounds of The Simpsons coming from her room.

She knew The Simpsons was Beca’s comfort TV, and that spurred her on to take the stairs two at at time.

She knocked lightly on her door, and the voice of Marge Simpson was stopped mid sentence.

She could hear sheets rustling, but no one told her to come in.

“Beca?” She asked softly, just in case Beca was asleep.

There was a pause, and then “Chloe?”

Something in Beca’s voice made her heart hurt.

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Chloe turned the handle and almost cried at the sight.

Beca’s eyes were red rimmed with almost purple bags under them. Her hair was mostly tied up in a messy ponytail, but strands had fallen out and were stuck to Beca’s face with what she assumed was sweat.

Her hands were shaking as they gripped the edges of her blanket, and her eyes were glassy with unshed tears.

“Beca,” Chloe said softly, unsure what else to say.

And then the tears in Beca’s eyes were falling

“Sorry,” Beca said, her voice catching in her throat. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Chloe said, sitting beside her on the bed and softly, pulling her into a hug. “Don’t be sorry. What is it?”

“You’ll laugh at me,” Beca said, wiping her eyes with her hands.

“Of course I won’t,” Chloe said. “I’m worried about you. Talk to me.”

Eventually, Beca told her all of it.

Told her about the paralysing fear that gripped her as soon as she was alone at night.

About the nightmares she was too scared to sleep and face.

She told her about it all.

And Chloe kept her word and didn’t laugh.

Not that she would have anyway. She didn’t find anything funny about this.

“I’m so sorry,” Chloe said, once Beca had finished speaking. “Beca I’m so sorry, I had no idea. I wouldn’t have asked you to watch it if I’d known.” She pressed her lips against the side of Beca’s head and held her close. “I need you to know that you can say no to me. Even if I’m being all pouty. If you don’t want to do something, you can absolutely say no.”

“I know,” Beca said, her voice rough now. “I just didn’t want you to make fun of me.”

Chloe felt a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry,” she said again.

“It isn’t your fault. We all tease each other all the time. You didn’t know this was a serious thing,” Beca said, feeling relief as the fear started ebbing away.

“I’m still sorry,” Chloe said. “Do you think you’ll be able to sleep?”

“I don’t think I have much choice,” Beca said. “Will you stay? Please?”

“Of course,” Chloe said. She got into the bed properly beside Beca and covered them both with the blanket. She hit play on The Simpsons again and pulled Beca so she was resting her head on her chest.

She could see Beca fighting keep her eyes open as they watched, but it was a battle she couldn’t win.

“Hey,” Chloe said, softly. “It’s okay. I’m here, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Please don’t leave.”

“I promise,” Chloe said. “Close your eyes.”

As if Beca had been waiting for permission, her eyes closed and her body relaxed against Chloe’s.

“Don’t leave,” she mumbled.

“I’m not going anywhere.”


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> you’ve done lots of prompts recently with Chloe taking care of Beca could you do one the other way around? Thank you ❤️
> 
> Originally posted 8th October 2020

Chloe was tired. Frustrated. Burned out.

She felt like the Bellas and classes for college were taking everything from her, and she was running on empty.

She was feeling almost claustrophobic in the Bellas house, so tried to spend as much time away as she could without raising questions.

The Bellas trusted her to lead them to victory at the Worlds in a few months, and she couldn’t let them down.

They were relying on her, she couldn’t let them know she was cracking.

That she was breaking.

She should have known there was one person who she couldn’t hide this from.

It was late one night when she was sat staring at an almost empty word document on her laptop, her eyes burning with exhaustion, her head throbbing, when she heard a quiet knock at her bedroom door.

“Yeah?” She said, her voice a little rough. She coughed to clear her throat, and turned to see Beca standing in her doorway. “What’s up?”

“You doing okay?”

“Yeah?” Chloe said, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“It’s 2 am,” Beca said. “Not exactly typical Chloe Beale hours.”

Chloe looked at her watch. She hadn’t realised it had gotten so late. “I, uh, must have lost track of time. I’m trying to write this paper but,” she cleared her throat again, “I’m having some trouble.”

Beca stepped further into the room and looked over Chloe’s shoulder at the screen.

“When is it due?” Beca asked.

“Tomorrow,” Chloe said. “Or… today I guess.”

Beca nodded. “Okay,” she said. “What do you need?”

“What do I need?”

“You want water and some aspirin I’m guessing,” Beca said. “Do you want coffee? Maybe a snack?”

“Uh…”

“I’ll be right back,” Beca said, leaving Chloe sitting, her mouth half open mouthed in confusion.

Beca was back in five minutes holding two mugs of coffee, a bottle of water tucked under her arm and a bag of chocolate coated pretzels held between her teeth.

Chloe’s favourite.

Beca placed the mugs on Chloe’s desk, followed by the bottle of water and the pretzels, before digging in her pocket for the strip of aspirin pills.

“Thank you,” Chloe said, worried she was about to cry. She took two aspirin and gulped down half the bottle of water. “How did you know I had a headache?”

Beca shrugged. “You always get headaches when you concentrate too hard.” She sat on Chloe’s bed, her back against the headboard. “Come take a break.”

“Bec I have like eight hours to finish this,” Chloe said.

“Come take a break. You’re not gonna get any further with it if you just keep staring at the screen like that.” Beca tapped the spot on the bed beside her, and Chloe gave in and joined her.

She was never very good at saying no to Beca.

“Thank you for this,” Chloe said, taking a sip of the coffee, smiling because Beca knew how she took it.

“No problem,” Beca said. “How come you left your paper so last minute?”

“I dunno,” Chloe said, taking another sip. “I kinda forgot about it. I kept putting it off.”

“Do you think you can get it done tonight?”

“I have to,” Chloe said. “As long as I don’t fall asleep at the keyboard, I should be okay.”

Beca laughed. “I’ll just throw a pretzel at you every time you nod off.”

“Are you going to stay here all night?” Chloe said, laughing too.

“Why else do you think I made myself a coffee?”

Chloe turned to look at her, and realised she wasn’t joking. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Beca said.

Chloe couldn’t help but smile. She leaned in and kissed Beca on the cheek, before moving back to sit at her desk.

“You’re not just gonna sit and watch me, are you? I’ll get performance anxiety,” Chloe said.

“No,” Beca replied, laughing. “I’m gonna go grab my laptop, I’ll be right back.”

When Beca returned, laptop in hand, Chloe was typing quickly. Her notes were spread over the rest of her desk, and she kept pausing to look at them. Her finger would trace down the page until she found a quote she was looking for, and then she’d carrying on typing.

They didn’t speak for a while. Chloe seemed to be on a roll but Beca was facing her own block.

It was the reason she’d even been up at 2 am in the first place.

A music producer wanted to hear what she had to offer, and Beca had been terrified to discover that she had absolutely nothing original to say.

To her, making mixes was as easy as breathing. She heard music in a way that not many other people did. She could deconstruct and rebuild songs with ease. She could combine them and remake them without any doubt or fear.

But to create something new? To make something out of nothing? That, she was discovering, she couldn’t do. If making mixes was like breathing, this was like breathing underwater.

She just couldn’t do it.

“I’m gonna need a vacation after this,” Chloe mumbled after a while.

Beca laughed, still staring at the empty track on her laptop.

“What are you working on?” Chloe asked.

“Nothing,” Beca replied, looking up. “How are you getting on?”

“Maybe halfway?” Chloe said.

“That’s great,” Beca said, smiling. “Do you need another coffee?”

“No, I’m good thanks Becs,” Chloe said. “Let me hear what you’re working on?”

“It’s nothing,” Beca said. “Having a bit of a creative block so there’s nothing to hear. Anyway, don’t let me distract you, you were on a roll before.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, frowning slightly. She turned back to her laptop and carried on typing.

Beca sank back against the headboard, and closed out the music program.

“Where would you go?” She asked after another period of silence, the only sounds coming from Chloe’s keyboard.

“Huh?” Chloe asked, rubbing her eyes, clearly exhausted.

“If you went on vacation, where would you go?”

“I dunno,” Chloe said. She thought for a minute. “I guess… I kinda miss the sea.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “The sea makes me feel… calm. When I was a teenager and I’d have a bad day, I’d just go for a walk on the beach and it always made me feel better.”

“Okay,” Beca said.

“Shame there’s no beach near here, huh?” Chloe asked before she carried on typing.

“Yeah,” Beca said, already pulling Google maps up on her laptop.

Chloe finished her paper at 5:30, the sound of her closing her laptop lid in triumph waking Beca from her nap.

“You did it?” Beca asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I did it,” Chloe said, smiling. “Thank you for keeping me company.”

“No problem,” Beca said, laughing slightly as she realised she’d spent the last hour asleep.

Chloe climbed into bed beside her, relieved she now had one less thing to worry about.

“Do you want me to go?” Beca asked.

“No,” Chloe said. “Do you want to go?”

“Not really,” Beca replied. “Do you want me to set an alarm?”

“I don’t have any classes tomorrow,” Chloe said.

“Me neither.”

As Chloe got comfortable, Beca began typing something into her laptop.

“What are you doing?”

Beca hit enter, and the soft sounds of the ocean started playing through the speakers.

“I can do some seagull impressions too if you want?”

Chloe laughed, and pulled Beca close to her, her arms wrapping around Beca’s waist.

“Dork,” she said, smiling.

“Rude,” Beca replied, also smiling.

“Do you wanna talk about the creative block thing?” Chloe asked, trying not to let her eyes close.

“Not right now,” Beca said. “It’ll pass, don’t worry.”

“I can’t help but worry,” Chloe said, cuddling Beca tighter.

“I know,” Beca replied. “But you worry too much. You worry about everyone. Everything. You’re not allowed to worry about this too.”

“Bossy.”

Beca laughed, and felt Chloe’s breath tickle her neck as she laughed too.

“Go to sleep weirdo.”

* * *

A few days later, Beca knocked on Chloe’s bedroom door again.

“Come in.”

Beca entered, and saw Chloe sitting on her bed, still in her work-out gear, unlacing her running shoes.

Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was in a messy ponytail, strands sticking to her face.

Beca forgot for a moment why she had entered the room.

Post-work-out Chloe always distracted her.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Beca asked.

“It’s Saturday, we have an all day rehearsal,” Chloe said, confused at how Beca could have forgotten this.

Beca bit her lip, trying not to grin too hard. “We _had_ an all day rehearsal. Can you be up and ready for like 7 am tomorrow? And make sure you pack like warmish clothes. Enough for one day and night.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You wanna vacation or not?”

* * *

Beca was half asleep at the kitchen table when Chloe got downstairs at 6:45 the next morning.

“Ready?” Beca asked with a yawn.

“Are you gonna tell me where we’re going?”

Beca smiled but shook her head.

“Come on,” Beca said, standing up. “Your chariot awaits.”

“My chariot?”

“My dad’s Toyota, same thing.”

* * *

They drove for almost five hours before Chloe spotted the sea, and the squeal of delight was like music to Beca’s very tired ears.

It was another hour before they reached their Airbnb for the night, and then, hand-in-hand, they walked to the beach.

It was mostly deserted and the beach itself seemed to be more pebbles and stones than the sand Chloe had grown up with, but she didn’t care.

She could feel the sea air making its way through her. Shaking out all the creases and blowing away all the cobwebs.

She felt like she could finally breathe for the first time in months. She didn't feel the crushing responsibility of school and the Bellas anymore.

The smell of the sea was like home, and the sound of it was more comforting than she could explain.

It wasn’t a rough sea, but the soft sound of the water being pulled back across the rocks, before rushing forward up and onto the beach seemed to empty her head of every negative thought.

“Thank you,” Chloe said, softly, squeezing Beca’s hand. “I needed this.”

“You know you can tell me when you’re struggling, right? I know you feel like you need to keep it together for the rest of the Bellas… Like you need to be strong and calm all the time, but you don’t. At least not with me. We’re co-captains, remember? Partners. We’re supposed to share the load, and I feel like you’ve been carrying mine this year.”

“I just… I don’t want to fail. I don’t want to let everyone down. If we don’t win… If the Bellas have to disband after this year… They’re my home, Beca. My family. I can’t lose that.”

“You won’t lose it,” Beca said. “No matter what happens, we’re still family. Nothing will change that.”

“Even if we lose? Even if this legacy that’s existed for years and years has to stop? Because of me?”

“Not because of you. This isn’t all on you,” Beca said, brushing away one of Chloe’s tears. “Chloe, we’re all still in this because we’re a family, you know that right? We’re not here to win trophies and titles, we’re here because we like being together. We like singing and hanging out and living together.”

Chloe laughed softly and another tear fell. “The girls are all working so hard and-”

“-for you,” Beca said. “They’re working hard because they can see how much it means to _you._ They don’t care about winning, not really, not deep down. They just don’t want to let _you_ down. They _love_ you. I… I love you, Chloe.”

Chloe swallowed and more tears fell. She turned to look back out to the sea, waiting for the sounds to calm her again, but her heart was pounding too hard for that to happen.

Beca didn’t know whether she should be freaking out or not, but Chloe’s hand was still in hers, so that hard to be a good sign. It grounded her enough to keep on talking.

“Whatever happens at the Worlds, it won’t change anything. We’ll still always be the Bellas. We’ll still be Beca and Chloe. I’ll still be in love with you,” Beca said. “And you don’t need to say that back, if you don’t feel the same. But I wanted you to know. To me, you’ll never be a failure, or a disappointment.”

There was a silence between them that, to Beca at least, felt like it lasted a lifetime.

She didn’t understand how Chloe didn’t know how much they all loved her.

How much _she_ loved her.

The silence stretched on, punctuated by the sounds of seagulls and waves crashing.

Beca might have found it relaxing, if her stomach wasn’t busy tying itself in knots.

She was sure of one thing though, and that was that she didn’t regret what she’d said.

She knew she’d never regret telling Chloe that she loves her.

“Beca,” Chloe’s voice broke slightly, and she coughed to clear it. “Beca, I never thought… I’d almost given up…”

“On what?”

“On us. On us being more than friends. And don’t get me wrong, Beca. I _love_ being friends with you. Your friendship is everything to me. But… But I always wanted… I always _hoped_ we would have more.”

“Me too,” Beca said. “It’s not too late for that, right?”

“No,” Chloe said, smiling and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “Never.”

“Cool,” Beca said, grinning. “Can I kiss you?”

Chloe nodded, and closed her eyes at the feeling of Beca’s hands cupping her face.

When their lips met, Chloe thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest.

“No more shouldering this alone, okay?” Beca said, their eyes closed, foreheads touching.

“Okay,” Chloe said.

“We’re a team.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, not knowing if she wanted to laugh or cry. “God, I love you. I love you so much, Beca.”

“I love you too.”


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Could you write a one shot where Beca got hurt jumping off the boat in pp3? Maybe shot?
> 
> Originally posted 25th October 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not gonna have her get shot because I don’t wanna get too serious.
> 
> Hope you enjoy anyway!

Beca was falling.

The water below lit up by the explosion behind her.

Her ears ringing from the sound of it.

Time seemed to slow as she fell. She had time to see Fat Amy hit the end of the boat they’d used to get here, and send the other end into air.

And then she collided with it.

She felt the sharp smack of pain for a second before she was swallowed by the cold black water.

And then an even more intense pain exploded in her shoulder as someone grabbed her arm and pulled her to the surface.

As her head broke the water, she could hear the voices if the Bellas calling to her but they sounded far away.

Someone was gripping her tightly, trying to keep her head above water, but the pain was becoming unbearable now.

“Please,” she said, her eyes squeezed shut. “Let me go. It hurts, let me go.”

“I’m not letting go,” Chloe’s voice said in her ear. Her voice was shaking. Trembling. But so fierce and determined that Beca stopped struggling. “I’m not losing you.”

And then the pain reached it’s peak, and Beca got swallowed by the darkness.

When she came to, she could feel something vibrating beneath her, and someone was pressing a cold hand to her face.

“Beca?”

“Am I dead?” Beca asked, opening her eyes to see Chloe kneeling beside her, her eyes wide with concern. Chicago was beside Chloe, trying keep her blanket on her shoulders, but Chloe only had eyes for Beca.

“No,” Chloe said, half laughing, half crying as she helped Beca sit up. “No you’re not dead.”

“Did everyone get out?” Beca asked, wiping a stream of water out of her eyes.

"Yeah,” Chloe said. “Everyone’s fine. They’re all on the other boats.”

“And you’re okay?”

“I’m okay,” Chloe said. “Cold and wet, but I’m okay. Better now that you’re awake.”

“Good,” Beca said, wiping the water away again. It kept dripping in front of her eyes and obscuring her vision. She wiped at it a bit harder and felt pain race across her forehead.

“Hey,” Chloe said, holding Beca’s wrist, to stop her from touching her head again. “You’ll make it worse.”

Beca looked down and saw it was blood and not water that coated her hand.

“Oh,” Beca said, feeling suddenly much colder. She didn’t like blood, yet she couldn’t seem to look away from it.

“Look at me,” Chloe said, softly. “I don’t want you passing out again.”

Beca tore her eyes away from her blood covered hand to focus on Chloe.

“You saved us,” Chloe said. “You and Amy saved us.”

“Of course we did,” Beca said.

They sat without speaking for a while, the noise of the boats the only sound they could hear.

At one point, Beca let her head drop onto Chloe’s shoulder.

“You’re gonna get blood on me,” Chloe said, kissing the top of Beca’s head.

“Sorry,” Beca said, laughing softly. “I’m tired. And you’re comfy.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Chloe said, trying to push away the worry in her stomach.

“That shit was crazy right? We jumped off a boat as it was exploding. Like… What the fuck man?”

Chloe laughed. “I know. That’s action movie shit. How are you doing?”

“Not… Not great.”

“What hurts?”

“My shoulder and my head,” Beca said. “And my ribs. And I kinda feel sick. And dizzy. Really dizzy. So, you know, I’ve had better days.”

Chloe turned to look at Chicago for the first time since Beca had been pulled onto the boat.

“How much longer?” She asked.

“Not long,” Chicago said. “There should be ambulances waiting.”

“Ambulances?” Beca asked. “Plural?”

“Amy got hurt too when she hit that boat,” Chloe said, turning to look back at Beca. Her stomach flipped as she saw how much paler she’d gotten. “She’s fine though. She looked in better shape than you.”

“Okay,” Beca said. She moved her head from Chloe’s shoulder and leant forward, feeling the sickness and dizziness rise with each rise and fall the boat made along the waves. “I don’t feel good. I hate boats. I’m never getting on another boat after this.”

“You’re okay,” Chloe said, running her hand up and down Beca’s back. “We’re almost there.”

As the boat started slowing, the rocking of the ship against the waves was getting worse as they approached the shore.

“Oh my god,” Beca mumbled. “I’m seriously gonna throw up. I swear I never get seasick.”

“I don’t think you’re seasick, Bec, I think you have a concussion,” Chloe said.

“Ah,” Beca said. “Yeah. Yeah that makes more sense.”

“Beca, do you think you can walk?” Chicago asked.

“Ah ha,” Beca said, grimacing in pain.

“Okay,” Chicago said. “Me and the guys are gonna help you down from the boat now. We can’t really get these boats close enough so you’ll have to walk through a bit of the sea. It’s really shallow but the current is a bit strong, so don’t let it catch you off guard or you might fall, and that’ll be really embarrassing for you.”

Beca laughed and then winced again.

Chicago climbed over the side of the boat, and another soldier eased Beca over the side and into his arms.

She had to stop herself from screaming when his hands held her ribs.

“You good?” He asked, setting her on her feet.

Beca nodded, biting down on her lip, waiting for the pain to ease off again. "Where’s Chloe?”

“They’re getting her down now,” he said, steadying her as small wave caused her to stumble.

“Thank you. For coming to get us. You’re a good dude, Chicago,” Beca said, holding his forearm so she didn’t fall. “I can see why Chloe likes you.”

“Is that you giving me your blessing?” Chicago asked, smiling as he waited to help Chloe down off the boat.

“Sure,” Beca said, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach.

But she wanted Chloe to be happy. Being with Chicago would probably make her happy.

“She doesn’t like me, Beca,” Chicago said, a sad smile on his face. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She doesn’t like me.”

And then he was helping Chloe down from the boat, and she was beside her again, eyes full of worry as they looked her over.

Chicago pointed out where the ambulance was waiting, along with the some of other Bellas who had made their way off their boats and out of the sea.

“You’ll come with me, right?” Beca asked, as Chloe took hold of uninjured arm to help her walk out of the sea and up to the beach. “I don’t want to do this alone.”

“Of course. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Everything hurts, Chlo’,” Beca said, feeling another wave of nausea wash over her as more blood dripped down her face.

“I know. But look, we’re almost there.”

Chloe’s voice was sounding far away again. She could see people running towards them, but couldn’t make out who they were.

“Beca?”

She hadn’t realised she’d stopped walking, but now Chloe was turning to look at her, her eyes full of concern again.

And then Beca's legs gave out, and she fell forward into the sand.

And then she was in a warm and comfortable bed. The pain and nausea was gone, and she felt like she’d be able to drift off to sleep again if she wanted. Someone was holding tightly onto her hand.

She heard a door open and close followed by a chair scraping, but she made no move to open her eyes. She was just too relaxed and comfortable.

In the back of her mind, she knew that pain was there. She knew there’d be a lot of it later. Like when you drink a lot and you know a hangover is coming. But for now she was pain free.

“How’s Amy?” Chloe asked. Her voice sounded tired and it cracked when she spoke

“Fine,” Aubrey replied. “She broke her arm but they said she doesn’t need surgery or anything.”

“Thank god,” Chloe said. “She hit that boat pretty hard.”

“Not as hard as Beca,” Aubrey said. “How is she?”

“Um, I don’t know really,” Chloe said. “We were talking on the boat and she was hurt but she seemed okay. And then… I don’t know.”

“What did the doctors say?”

“She dislocated her shoulder, bruised her ribs, and hit her head pretty bad,” Chloe said.

Beca was trying to follow along with the conversation happening in the room, but the words were hard to hold onto. She couldn’t quite make sense of them, so she gave up and just let them wash over her, and she drifted back off to sleep.

“What if she doesn’t wake up?” Chloe asked, her voice breaking again.

“She will,” Aubrey said. “She’ll be okay.”

“I love her, ‘Bree.”

“I know you do,” Aubrey said, sighing softly. “So when she wakes up, you should tell her.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “We all could have died tonight. If Amy and Beca hadn’t come for us, we could have died. I don’t want to wait anymore. I don’t want to waste anymore time.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

“So apparently Amy beat up like 10 fully grown men on that boat. I gotta say, I thought every story she’d ever told had been BS until now. Do you think she’s actually wrestled crocodiles?”

* * *

Beca woke up for real a few hours later.

Chloe was sleeping in the chair beside her bed, and Beca couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her.

She was sore and tired, but she knew morphine was still taking the edge off, and that she’d feel real pain again later.

She was trying to make sense of the dream she’d been having, which had just been about Aubrey and Chloe talking, when Chloe stirred beside her.

“Hey,” Beca said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

Chloe smiled when she saw she was awake. “Hey,” she said, her voice just as rough. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry,” Beca said, smiling. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“They brought you in at like midnight so… six hours?”

“Shit,” Beca said. “I’m sorry. You can go back to the hotel, you know? Get some proper rest?”

“I told you I wasn’t leaving you,” Chloe said. “So I’m not leaving you.”

“Thank you,” Beca said, reaching out so Chloe could take her hand.

“You and Amy rowed out into the Med to save us from a crazy hostage situation. I think I owe you this at least,” Chloe said, taking Beca’s and and pressing her lips to her knuckles.

“I did all of the rowing too,” Beca said. “If that gets me bonus points?”

“It does,” Chloe said, grinning. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” Beca said. “Tired. You?”

“Yeah I’m pretty tired too,” Chloe said. “It’s been a wild night.”

Beca gave a small noise of agreement, feeling her eyes wanting to close again. “Lie down with me?”

“I don’t know if I should,” Chloe said, biting her lip.

“Please,” Beca said.

“I don’t want to get yelled at by a scary Spanish nurse.”

Beca laughed. “Okay,” she mumbled. “I don’t want that either.”

“I’ll stay right here though,” Chloe said, kissing Beca’s hand again. “I promise.”

“Love you, Chlo’,” Beca said, drifting off as Chloe stroked a hand up and down her arm.

“Love you too, Beca,” Chloe replied.

* * *

“I had a weird dream that first night in the hospital,” Beca said, sitting on the edge of her bed a few days later, struggling to tie her shoes without hurting her ribs.

“Yeah?” Chloe asked, batting Beca’s hands away so she could tie them for her.

Beca was being discharged, and she and Chloe had one more night in the hotel before flying back to New York. Beca couldn’t wait for a proper shower and night’s sleep that wouldn’t be interrupted by nurses checking on her every few hours.

“Yeah,” Beca said. “You and Aubrey were talking about Amy fighting a bunch of dudes on that boat.”

Chloe’s hands froze for a second before she carried on tying them.

“Did we talk about anything else?” Chloe asked, trying to keep her voice casual.

“Yeah,” Beca said.

Chloe looked up at her.

“It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Chloe shook her head.

“So the other stuff…”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “Not a dream.”

“And… And you meant it?”

“Yeah, I meant it.”

Beca nodded. “Um, it feels weird to say this while you’re tying my shoes.”

Chloe laughed and stood up, taking Beca’s hands.

“You’re like the most important person in my life, Chlo’. I love you so much.”

“I’m sensing a but coming?”

Beca shook her head. “No buts. I love you. I’m in love with you. Have been for a long time.”

Chloe blinked and felt tears prick her eyes.

“I love you too,” Chloe said.

Beca grinned. “When I’ve showered all the hospital off me, I’m gonna kiss you, okay?”

“Can’t wait.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Could you write one where Beca has an accident and although Chloe doesn’t know her, she stays with her until she wakes up?
> 
> Originally posted 2nd December 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: suicide is mentioned

“Oh my God! Are you okay?”

Beca’s vision flickered in front of her. The bright white sky was suddenly replaced by a pair of impossibly blue tear-filled eyes and red hair.

She was hurting. Everywhere. She wanted to move but she couldn’t. She wanted to speak but she couldn’t.

She was finding it hard to breathe. Every time she tried to suck in a breath she felt like she was getting stabbed in the chest.

“Shit, I’m so sorry! You just came out of nowhere!”

Beca opened her mouth again, trying to speak. She could taste blood in her mouth and she was starting to panic

“No, no, no, don’t move! Don’t try and speak. I’ve called an ambulance, you’re going to be okay. You’re gonna be fine.”

“C-c-can’t,” Beca gasped. “I c-can’t- fuck…”

“You’re okay,” the woman said, forcing an air of calm into her voice that didn’t quite hide the fear. “Look at me. You’re okay.”

“I fucked it up…” Beca said, her breathing slowing. Calming. Her vision was fading now. She heard sirens in the distance and then the panicked voices around her got quieter.

And quieter.

Until there was silence.

* * *

Chloe paced the hospital corridor, her hands shaking, her stomach churning with worry.

“Chloe? What are you still doing here?” Aubrey asked, adjusting the stethoscope around her neck. “I thought the police said you could go?”

“Yeah they did,” Chloe said. “But I have to make sure she’s okay, don’t I?”

“Chloe, you know I can’t let you in there,” Aubrey said with a sigh. “You aren’t her friend or relative or anything. And I know it was an accident but you literally hit her with your car. For all anyone else knows you could be a murderer here to finish the job.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and dropped into one of the uncomfortable plastic seats in the corridor.

“Can you at least tell me if she’s okay?” Chloe said, folding her arms.

“I’m not supposed to,” Aubrey said.

“Does she have any family here? Anyone I could speak to?” Chloe asked.

Again, Aubrey sighed. “Look, I really shouldn’t be telling you anything about her. But, no. We called a bunch of people and no one answered.”

Chloe frowned. “I can’t leave her on her own.”

“She’s… Look, she wouldn’t even notice if you were there or not. She’s gonna be pretty out of it for a while,” Aubrey said.

“I can’t just leave,” Chloe said, tears burning her eyes. “Not if she doesn’t have anyone. I need to… To at least apologise. I could have killed her.”

“It was an accident.”

“But it still happened,” Chloe said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

In the end, it took Beca a few days to wake up properly.

Chloe stopped by every day. She even brought her flowers and got Aubrey to put them in her room.

She knew she was bordering on stalker behaviour, but she couldn’t help it. She _had_ to meet this girl. _Had_ to apologise.

Especially considering that, according to Aubrey, she still hadn’t had any visitors.

“She’s been asking about who’s bringing all the flowers,” Aubrey said one evening as they ate dinner.

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her they were from the woman who hit her with her car, who was also turning into a stalker and that I could get it to stop if it made her feel weird,” Aubrey said.

“Aubrey!”

“I’m kidding. I mean, I did tell her that, but I also said they were from my crazy but harmless roommate who really wanted to meet her,” Aubrey said. “So she said you could.”

The next morning Aubrey showed her to Beca’s room.

Beca was sitting up in bed. She was awake but seemed zoned out. She had one earphone in and she was staring off into the distance.

She had scrapes on her face and arms, and Chloe could see a cast on her wrist and stitches in a cut on her head. Her face was bruised where it had hit the ground.

Chloe felt a wave of guilt knowing she was responsible for this, and nervously tapped on the door, hovering in the doorway.

“Hi,” Beca said, looking slightly confused as she removed her earphone. She grabbed a notepad and flipped through it. “Sorry, we haven’t met, have we?”

“No,” Chloe said. “Not… Not formally.”

Beca cocked her head slightly, still confused.

“I’m Chloe,” Chloe said.

“Chloe,” Beca repeated, looking at her notebook again. “Sorry. I’ve been having um…” she trailed off, searching for the word she needed. “Trouble, remembering stuff. Like… retaining information. They, um, the doctors said it’s normal. When I hit my head I lost some… some um, memories and words. But they said it’s normal and hopefully not, uh, forever? Permanent. They said it wasn’t permanent.”

Chloe stepped a little further into the room and couldn’t help but smile.

“You said your name was Chloe?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “You’re Rebeca, right?”

“Beca,” she said, writing something in her notebook. “So what kind of, doctor are you Chloe? I’m gonna keep saying your name so it sticks in my head, is that okay?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said smiling a little wider. She liked the way her name sounded when Beca said it. “I’m not a doctor.”

“Oh, sorry,” Beca said. “I just assumed. I only see doctors and uh… nurses. Are you a nurse? You aren’t in the, um,” she tugged at her gown, trying to find the word, “scrubs.”

“I’m a vet,” Chloe said.

Beca just stared at her for a few seconds. “They sent in a vet? Okay… Sick burn I guess?”

“No! I’m not here to treat you,” Chloe said, laughing. “I’m… I hit you with my car.”

“Oh,” Beca said. “You’re the… the flower lady. Dr. Posen’s roommate?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “That’s me. I just… I really needed to apologise. And I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Right,” Beca said. “You don’t need to apologise, it was an accident.” Beca was looking at her intently. “Are you sure we haven’t met?”

“I spoke to you after I hit you,” Chloe said. “You were conscious for a couple of minutes. It was, um, pretty scary?” Chloe added with a nervous laugh, tears stinging her eyes. “You were all… bloody and you couldn’t move. You couldn’t breathe. How are you doing?”

“They said I punctured a lung,” Beca said. “Broken ribs, cracked… um… pelvis. Fractured wrist and, um…” she gestured to her head, “a concussion. But, you know, still alive. So… all things considered.”

“I’m really really sorry,” Chloe said, taking a cautious step closer, tears brimming in her eyes, threatening to spill over. “If there’s anything I can do, please tell me.”

“Thanks, Chloe,” Beca said. She rubbed at her head, a headache starting to form behind her eyes. “It’s funny, I don’t really remember anything about that day. I don’t remember getting up that morning, or what my plan for the day was. I don’t remember where I was headed. I remember… I remember being in pain. So much it didn’t seem real. It couldn’t… pinpoint, where it was coming from. It was just… Everywhere. And I remember your eyes. But the two things don’t feel connected. The pain and your eyes aren't the same memory. It’s… it’s stupid. It’s hard to explain.”

“Try me,” Chloe said, taking a seat beside Beca’s bed.

“I remember looking into your eyes and feeling… calm. Did you say anything to me?”

“I told you that help was coming and that you’d be okay,” Chloe said.

Beca nodded. “Did I say anything back?”

“You… You weren’t making a ton of sense? Which, you know, is perfectly understandable, you’d just been hit by a car,” Chloe said. “You kept saying ‘I can’t’ but you were like… gasping. It was like you couldn’t catch your breath. Which will be the punctured lung’s fault, I’m guessing. My fault, really. And then before you passed out you said… you said ‘I fucked it up.’ I don’t know what that was about.”

Beca rubbed the back of her neck.

“Yeah, I dunno what that means,” she said.

They talked for a little longer before a natural silence fell. It didn’t feel awkward.

“So,” Beca said. “Thank you for the, um,” she gestured around the room, “flowers.”

“You’re welcome,” Chloe said. “Thank you for not being mad at me for hitting you with my car.”

Beca laughed and then winced at the pain in her ribs. “You’re welcome.”

Chloe sensed that their meeting was coming to an end, even though she didn’t want it to.

“I was wondering, how would you feel about me coming to see you again?” Chloe asked.

“Why would you want to do that?”

Chloe shrugged. “I like talking to you.”

Beca gave her a small grin, and rubbed the back of her neck again. “I like talking to you too.”

“And plus it’s my fault you’re in here anyway, I should at least keep you company,” Chloe said.

Beca laughed and shook her head slightly. “It wasn’t your fault,” she said quietly.

Chloe’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “I was driving the car that hit you, Beca.”

“Yeah but I just… I walked out without looking. Apparently.”

“Apparently?”

“The police came to take a statement. Some girl was making a… Vine? Not Vine. New Vine. Gen Z Vine.”

“Tik Tok?”

“Yes,” Beca said, laughing. “She was making a Tik Tok with her friend and I was in the background. They said I just… Walked into the road. Head down. And then…” She trailed off, looking uncomfortable. “I guess that’s why you’re out walking the streets instead of behind bars for attempted murder, huh?” She added with a nervous laugh.

“I guess so,” Chloe said. “Thank god for Tik Tok.”

A few more moments passed in silence. “So can I come and see you tomorrow? I finish work at 4 pm.”

“Yeah,” Beca said, smiling again. “I’d like that.”

“I’ll give you my number,” Chloe said. Beca turned to a blank page in her notebook and handed it over. “Give me a text if you can think of anything you might want or need.”

“Thanks, Chloe,” Beca said. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Why wouldn’t I be nice to you?”

“You don’t know me.”

“Yet,” Chloe said with a grin. “I don’t know you yet.”

* * *

True to her word, Chloe arrived the next day after her shift.

It took Beca a few moments to put her name to her face. She stared at her for a few seconds, a crease forming between her eyebrows. Her hand was resting on her notebook, but she didn’t open it.

“Chloe… Vet… Hit me with your car. Yes?”

“Yes,” Chloe said with a laugh. “But just Chloe is fine.”

She pulled a packet of Oreos out of her bag and handed them to Beca.

“You’re an angel,” Beca said, grinning as she opened the packet. She offered the pack to Chloe who took one with a smile.

* * *

They spent the next few days in the same way. Chloe would visit after work, and when visiting hours ended the two would text, growing closer with every conversation.

It was almost a week later when Aubrey entered the room while they were talking.

Beca had been quieter than usual. She’d been having a hard time maintaining eye-contact and she seemed much more distant than she had been before.

She also seemed to be in a lot more pain. They were evidently reducing her medication.

Chloe was worried, but didn’t know how to broach the subject.

“Good news, Beca,” Aubrey said. “You’re gonna be able to go home in a couple of days.”

“Oh,” Beca said, forcing a smile. “Awesome.”

“You’re gonna need someone to take care of you though,” Aubrey said, looking down at Beca’s chart. “Is there anyone we can call for you?”

“Um, no,” Beca said, trying to avoid looking at Chloe. “I don’t… There isn’t anyone.”

“Right,” Aubrey said. “You’re going to struggle on your own, Beca.”

“I don’t really have a choice,” Beca said, feeling her cheeks burn.

“Okay,” Aubrey said, sighing. “I’ll leave you to it. If you can think of anyone, let me know.”

Aubrey left the room, her eyes meeting Chloe’s for the briefest seconds, but it was enough for her to know that Chloe’s heart was breaking.

“Go on,” Beca said, still avoiding eye contact. “Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say something about how… how I don’t have anyone. How I haven’t had a single visitor other than you since I’ve been here. About how I have no one to take me in. No one who cares enough about me,” Beca said. “Ask me why. Ask me what I must have done to be so… so fucking _alone_.”

There was a few moments of silence between them, and Beca felt tears burning her eyes.

And then Chloe placed her hand on top of Beca’s.

“You aren’t alone,” Chloe said. “Not anymore. We’re friends, right?”

Beca sniffed and let out a teary laugh. “You don’t know me.”

Chloe shrugged. “What I do know about you, I like.”

“Why are you even here, Chloe? Why do you keep coming to see me? Is it guilt? Or do you feel sorry for me?” Beca asked.

“Do you want me to go?” Chloe asked.

“I want you to answer my question.”

“Yeah, I do feel bad that I hit you with my car and landed you in hospital, of course I do. And yes, it makes me sad knowing that you’ve had no on else come and visit you. That you don’t have anyone to take care of you when you need it,” Chloe said. “The reason I visited the first time was because I needed to apologise. I needed to see with my own eyes that you were okay. That I hadn’t… ruined your life. But the reason I came the second time? The third? The reason I’m here now? Because I _want_ to be here. Because I like spending time with you, I like talking to you. But if you don’t… If you don’t want me here, Beca, I can leave. I know I’m intense. I have trouble with, like, boundaries. I don’t always know when I’m crossing a line, or if I’m outstaying my welcome. So if you want me to go, I can go.”

“That isn’t what I want,” Beca said, quietly. “I’m sorry. I just… I don’t know why someone like you would want to spend their free time with someone like me.”

“Because you’re cool,” Chloe said. “You’re funny. You’re smart. You’re easy to talk to. You’re not bad to look at.”

Beca laughed and Chloe smiled.

“You’re one to talk,” Beca mumbled.

“Are you gonna let me be your friend then? Without the questions and superstitions? If you need a friend reference you can just ask Aubrey. I freaked her out with my friendship in the early days too,” Chloe said.

“Yeah, I guess that would be okay,” Beca said, trying not to grin. “Sorry for being a dick.”

“You weren’t being a dick. You’re in pain and you’re… you’re stressed out about something,” Chloe said.

“Yeah they’ve stopped giving me the good stuff,” Beca said.

“Bummer,” Chloe said. “You know, if there was something else going on that you wanted to talk about, I’m a good listener.”

“I’m fine, it’s just I, uh, remembered something. About that day. About where I was going,” Beca said.

“Well that’s good isn’t it?”

Beca shook her head, tears filling her eyes.

“Tell me about it,” Chloe said, softly. “Take your time. I”m not going anywhere.”

“I was feeling… Empty. Just… done. I was done. I’ve, um, I’ve had depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been on my own so long. People don’t stick around after they’ve seen me at my worst.” Chloe squeezed her hand again, and Beca felt encouraged to carry on speaking. “That day I was going to…” Beca trailed off, her voice catching in her throat. She swallowed and wiped her eyes. “I was going to… Please don’t make me say it.”

“Beca, did you… Did you step in front of my car on purpose?” Chloe asked, feeling like she’d just been plunged into ice water.

“N-No! No,” Beca said, wiping at her eyes again. “I was going to the bridge that you have to drive across to get to the university. The one over the river.”

“‘I fucked it up,’” Chloe said, quoting what Beca had said to her that day. “That’s what you said to me, ‘I fucked it up’. Because you were planning on killing yourself.” Chloe felt sick. “Jesus, Beca, did I save your life by hitting you with my car?”

“I guess,” Beca said. “After the accident I was feeling better like, mentally. I thought maybe it was because I’d had this… this near death experience, that maybe I didn’t actually want to die anymore.” Beca gave a hollow laugh and then winced at the pain in her ribs. “I thought I’d been cured. But I was wrong. When they started reducing the morphine those feelings started coming back. Makes me wonder if I should try heroine. Kidding,” she added at the look on Chloe’s face.

“God, Beca,” Chloe said, sinking back into her chair. “This is a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Beca said. “You don’t have to stay, if this is too much.”

Chloe felt Beca pulling away, so she tightened her grip on her hand. “I didn’t say that,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I don’t want you to feel pressured into being here,” Beca said.

“I don’t feel pressured,” Chloe said. “Beca, I’m here because I want to be here. What you just told me hasn’t changed that.”

Beca squeezed Chloe’s hand as tight as she could with her fractured wrist. “Thank you.”

“We have something else to decide now,” Chloe said.

“What’s that?”

“Who’s gonna take care of you when they let you go home?”

Beca sighed. “No one is,” she said. “I’ve been looking after myself since I was a teenager. I know how to do it.”

“What if I helped?” Chloe asked. “I could just check in with you every now and then? Pop over to your place after work or call you to make sure you’re okay?”

“I feel like I don’t have a choice in this, do I?” Beca asked.

“Now you’re getting it,” Chloe said, grinning.

That night, Aubrey was checking Beca over before she headed home for the day.

“Have you thought about anyone who can help you out when you get discharged?” Aubrey asked, looking over Beca’s charts.

“Yeah, I have someone who’s said they’ll keep an eye on me,” Beca said. “It’s all sorted.”

“Great,” Aubrey said. She looked up from her chart and studied Beca’s expression for a moment. “It’s Chloe, right?”

“Yeah,” Beca said, feeling a bit awkward knowing that Chloe and Aubrey were best friends. “Did she tell you?”

“No,” Aubrey said. “But I knew from the second you said you didn’t have anyone, that she’d volunteer. And she always gets her way.”

“I hope you don’t think I’m like, taking advantage or something. I told her she didn’t have to stick around,” Beca said.

“I don’t think that,” Aubrey said, softly. “And I know what Chloe’s like. She just… she likes people. She likes helping them. Once you have her as a friend, you’re stuck with her.” Aubrey laughed as a memory came back to her. “We roommates in college, that’s how we met. In our first week I got sick with the flu and she… She took care of me. And she’s never stopped taking care of me. She’s just the best friend anyone could ask for.”

“I feel like I don’t deserve that,” Beca said. “I’m not an easy person to be friends with.”

“Neither am I,” Aubrey said. “I’m controlling, a perfectionist, I get borderline obsessive about certain things. I can be rude, blunt, mean. I can be a real bitch sometimes.” Aubrey shrugged. “Chloe saw through all that. She has a way of just overlooking the bad parts of people and seeing the good. And I’m not saying she’s perfect. She can get just as obsessive as me. And she has no respect for boundaries or personal space. She barged into some freshman’s shower one year because she liked the way she sang. But you’ll never have a better friend than her.”

“I just don’t know why she’d want me as a friend.”

“You make her laugh,” Aubrey said after thinking for a few moments. “Chloe has a really good fake laugh, but I haven’t heard her use it once with you. And sometimes I’ll catch her smiling at her phone when you guys are texting. She doesn’t do that when she texts other people.”

Beca grinned. “She makes me laugh too.”

Aubrey smiled and carried on checking Beca over. “How’s the pain?”

“Not amazing,” Beca said.

“I’ll get the nurse to come by and give you something. It’ll help you sleep.”

“Thanks,” Beca said. “And thanks for saying all of that before. It’s just… It’s weird. A week ago I had no one and now suddenly there’s this amazing person who for some reason wants to be part of my life. I’m not used to it.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it.”


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous said:  
> Hiiii can you pretty please do a follow up to the one shot of chloe hitting Beca which her car?!
> 
> For part one, see chapter 29.
> 
> Originally posted 6th December 2020

Beca limped her way towards the front door of her apartment, fumbling with the keys as she tried to get them out of her pocket.

“Let me,” Chloe said, taking them from her.

“Thanks,” Beca said, leaning heavily against her crutch. The pain in her ribs and pelvis were really starting to make themselves known now.

Chloe unlocked the door and held it open for Beca.

Chloe wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but Beca’s apartment was nice, if not a little bare.

Knowing what Beca’s mental state had been like before the accident, Chloe had been picturing a bit more of a mess, but the apartment was clean and tidy. The only thing that looked out of place was the note on her coffee table.

Chloe looked away, and tried not to imagine what was written on it.

“Thanks for the ride,” Beca said. “Do you wanna stay for a coffee?”

“Sure,” Chloe said, smiling, putting Beca’s bag on the floor.

“Can you, uh, help me make it?” Beca asked, embarrassed.

“Yes,” Chloe said, grinning even more, glad that Beca was actually asking for help. “Of course.”

Chloe followed Beca into the kitchen, and switched the kettle on.

“The mugs are in the cupboard above the microwave,” Beca said. “I can’t stretch up to reach them.”

“I got it,” Chloe said, taking down two mugs. “Sugar?”

“Yeah like, half a tea-spoon,” Beca said. “Do you want milk?”

“Please,” Chloe said, finding the cutlery drawer and adding instant coffee to both cups and sugar to Beca’s. Beca grabbed the milk out of the fridge and placed it on the counter. “Great teamwork.”

Beca laughed. “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

“Well that was adorable,” Chloe said, laughing as she added a splash of milk to her mug. “Milk?”

“No thanks,” Beca said, putting it back in the fridge.

Chloe picked up the two mugs and followed Beca back into the living room. Beca eased herself onto the sofa, and then picked up the note she’d left. She held it in her hands for a few seconds without unfolding it, before she crumpled it into a ball and tossed it towards a small waste paper bin near her desk.

It missed by several feet.

“Good shot,” Chloe said, laughing softly.

“Give me a break,” Beca said, laughing too. “Several parts of me are broken.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Chloe said, moving towards the crumbled ball of paper. She felt Beca’s hand close around her wrist.

“Please… Please don’t read that,” Beca said, the smile gone from her face, her voice quiet.

“I won’t,” Chloe said, softly. “I just don’t want you to have to bend over to pick it up later.”

Beca nodded and let Chloe’s arm go.

Chloe tossed the note into the trash, and returned to the sofa.

They drank their coffee and Chloe told her all about the animals she treated that day.

She could see Beca sinking further and further into the sofa, her grip on the mug beginning to slacken. The caffeine clearly couldn’t compete with the strong pain medication she’d taken once they’d sat down.

“Let me take that,” Chloe said softly, taking the mug out of her hands and setting it on the coffee table. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Beca said, laughing and rubbing at her eyes. “Sorry.”

Chloe cocked her head. “Why are you sorry?”

“I’m falling asleep in the middle of your story about… hamsters?”

“Gerbils,” Chloe said, grinning. “It wasn’t my most exciting story, I’ll admit.”

“No, it was great,” Beca said. “I’m just…”

“On a lot of pain meds?”

“Yeah.”

“And if this was any other day you’d be riveted by my story about gerbils?” Chloe asked.

“Of course,” Beca said, laughing. “I honestly think Universal will be on the phone trying to buy the movie rights.”

“Good to see the drugs aren’t affecting your sarcasm,” Chloe said grinning.

“My personality is like 80% sarcasm so that’s a good thing,” Beca said, feeling her eyes wanting to close again.

“You want some help getting to your room?”

Beca nodded, and Chloe helped her to her feet.

“You’re a really good person, Chloe,” Beca said, as Chloe helped her to her room and onto her bed.

Chloe smiled but shook her head. “I’m not that great. I have this thing where I run people over with my car. Do you wanna change into some pyjamas or something?”

“Oh, am I not your first victim?” Beca asked, grinning.

“No, you’re my first,” Chloe said. “But I think I’ve got a taste for it now, you know?” Beca laughed and winced. “Pyjamas?”

“Bottom drawer,” Beca said, her eyes momentarily screwed up as she waited for the pain to pass. When she opened them, Chloe was holding out some pyjamas for her, a look of concern on her face.

“I’m fine,” Beca said. “And anyway, it’s a good job you did hit me, remember?”

“I remember,” Chloe said, softly. She turned around so Beca could change. “Do you… Do you wanna talk about any of that?”

“Not right now,” Beca said, struggling to change without hurting herself more.

Chloe was itching to turn around and help, but she knew she had to let Beca ask for it. She had to draw a line _somewhere_.

“Can… Can you help?” Beca asked after a few minutes of struggling.

Chloe turned and helped Beca change.

“You should have been a doctor or something instead of a vet,” Beca mumbled as she lay down and Chloe pulled the blanket up so it covered her.

“I thought about it for a while,” Chloe said, sitting on the edge of the bed, her hand moving to brush a strand of hair out of Beca’s face.

“How come you didn’t?” Beca asked, closing her eyes at the contact.

“I get too attached to people,” Chloe said, softly. “Too involved. Harder to do that with animals.”

Beca didn’t reply because she’d already fallen asleep.

Chloe left a note on her bedside asking her to text her when she woke up, and to call if she needed anything.

She went into the kitchen and took some mugs, bowls, and plates that were all in the higher cupboards and placed them on the counter so Beca wouldn’t have to stretch up to reach them.

She then headed back to the living room to put on her coat and shoes, and her eyes fell on the small bin which contained Beca’s note.

Chloe wondered who it had been addressed to, if anyone.

She thought about what it might say, even though she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know.

She took a step towards it before remembering the look on Beca’s face when she asked her not to read it.

She left the apartment and pushed it from her mind. If Beca wanted her to know, she would tell her.

* * *

**Beca: Hey, just woke up. Thanks again for helping me last night. Once I’m fully healed I’ll have to think of a way to repay you xx**

**Chloe: You could take me out for dinner? Or let me take you out for dinner? xx**

**Chloe: Either way, I want to eat dinner and I want you to be there xx**

**Beca: It’s a date xx**

**Beca: Did you move all my shit out of the cupboard so I didn’t have to reach to get it? xx**

**Chloe: Yeah, that’s okay right? xx**

**Beca: It’s like the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you xx**

**Chloe: You’re welcome :) xx**

* * *

**Chloe: Morning sunshine, how are you feeling? xx**

**Chloe: It’s been a few hours, can you give me a text back so I know you’re okay? xx**

**Chloe: Bec, I’m freaking out, please answer my calls?**

**Chloe: I’m coming over.**

Chloe was feeling sick with worry as she drove to Beca’s apartment. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Beca had seemed fine when Chloe left the night before, but it wasn’t like her to not text back or answer Chloe’s calls.

She’d been out of the hospital for a week now, and seemed to be doing a little better, physically, but she still hadn’t talked to Chloe about any of the other stuff going on with her.

The elevator ride seemed to last a lifetime, stopping on every floor to let people in and out.

When she finally made it to Beca’s door, her hands were shaking as she knocked.

“Beca?” She called, pressing her ear to the door to see if she could hear any sound of movement. “Beca, please open the door. I don’t know if you’re mad at me or what, but I just wanna make sure you’re okay.” If Beca could hear her, she didn’t answer. Beca had given her a spare key for emergencies, and although Chloe didn’t know if this constituted and emergency yet, she didn’t want to take the chance.

She unlocked the door and entered the apartment.

“Beca?”

Chloe could hear the sound of running water and followed it to where Beca’s bathroom was. She knocked on the bathroom door. “Beca?”

“C-Chloe? Chloe is that you?!”

“Can I come in?” Chloe asked, relieved to hear her voice, but terrified of the way it was shaking.

“P-please,” Beca said. “I n-need help.”

Chloe opened the bathroom door and found Beca in the bathtub, the shower on, spraying water everywhere, the shower curtain on top of her.

“I s-slipped,” Beca said, her teeth chattering.

“Oh my god,” Chloe said, rushing in and switching off the shower which was now freezing cold. “Jesus, Beca, how long have you been in here?”

“S-since this m-morning,” Beca said, shivering violently. “I c-couldn’t g-get up.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, letting out a shaky breath. “Okay, we’re gonna get you up and get you warm.”

“S-sorry,” Beca said.

“Shh, don’t be sorry,” Chloe replied. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

“I s-should have b-been more c-careful,” Beca said, watching as Chloe grabbed a towel. “It’s t-too f-fucking hard trying to shower w-with this th-thing on my a-arm.”

“It’s okay,” Chloe said. “I’m gonna move the shower curtain okay? And then I’m gonna cover you with the towel. I’ll try not to look.”

“‘K-kay.”

Chloe pulled the fallen shower curtain off Beca and wrapped her in a towel, trying to keep her eyes averted as best she could. Water had soaked the bathroom, so the clothes Beca had brought in with her were drenched.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Chloe said, crouching down to lift Beca out of the tub. “Put your arms around my neck. I’m gonna try and do this without hurting your ribs, but I apologise in advance if I do.”

“I-it’s ok-kay,” Beca said, putting her arms around Chloe’s neck. “T-too numb t-to f-feel anything a-anyway.”

Chloe placed an arm under Beca’s legs and one behind her back and lifted her up. Beca bit down on her lip hard as the pain in her ribs spiked. She was lighter than Chloe expected and Chloe could feel her trembling against her. She took her into the bedroom and gently lowered her to the bed.

“Th-thank you,” Beca said.

“Are you hurt?” Chloe asked, grabbing pyjamas out of the drawer.

“H-hard to t-tell,” Beca said. “Th-there’s a l-lot of pain but I d-don’t know if a-any of it is n-new.”

“Did you hit your head or anything when you slipped?”

“I d-don’t th-think so,” Beca said. “I s-sort of f-fell on my s-side. M-my arm t-took the b-brunt of it. E-everything else k-kinda l-locked up. I c-couldn’t m-move.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, tears burning her eyes. “It’s okay, you’re out now. Do you think you can put these on? I’m gonna make you a hot water bottle. You should eat something too. And take your meds.”

“N-not h-hungry,” Beca said. “I j-just w-wanna get w-warm and sleep.”

“You’ve been in there for hours, Becs,” Chloe said. “You have to eat something. I’ll be right back, okay?”

She grabbed Beca’s hot water bottle and headed for the kitchen. She made a grilled cheese while she waited for the kettle to boil, and tried to control her tears. She thought about what would have happened if she hadn’t come over to check on her. If she hadn’t been given a spare key. If she hadn’t offered to help Beca in the first place.

How long would she have been in there? Would her strength have come back to her eventually, or would she have stayed in there until someone found her? And who would have found her? The same person she left that note for?

Her thoughts were spiralling as she watched steam start to rise from the kettle, and the sound of it clicking off made her jump.

She filled the bottle and made Beca a mug of chamomile tea. She grabbed her meds, tucked the bottle under her arm, and carried the tea and grilled cheese through to Beca’s room.

“Here you go,” Chloe said, putting the tea and sandwich on her nightstand.

Beca had managed to change and had climbed into bed, her hands still shaking. She gratefully took the hot water bottle and wrapped her arms around it.

“How bad’s the pain?”

“B-bad,” Beca said. “A s-solid e-eight out of t-ten.”

“Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“N-no,” Beca said. “P-please. I j-just want to s-sleep.”

“Okay,” Chloe said with a sigh. “But you can’t take any painkillers unless you eat something first or you’ll get sick.”

Beca let out a small huff of resignation and picked up the plate with still shaking hands.

While she ate, Chloe went into the bathroom, re-attached the shower curtain, and cleaned up the mess.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Beca said, setting down the empty plate. She swallowed some painkillers with a mouthful of tea and settled further into the bed, warmth spreading through her chest.

“I know,” Chloe replied. She sat on the edge of Beca’s bed and pressed a hand to her face. It was still cold, but not as bad as it was before. The shivering had died down too.

“Thank you for coming to check on me,” Beca said, putting the half-empty cup on her nightstand. The meds were doing their work, and Beca could feel the pain easing off. “I don’t know how long I’d have been there if you hadn’t.”

“I’m just glad you gave me a key,” Chloe said, her hand now stroking through Beca’s slightly damp hair.

“That feels nice,” Beca mumbled, closing her eyes.

“I’m really glad you’re okay, Beca,” Chloe said. “I was really scared when you didn’t reply to any of my texts. I… I really like you.”

Beca didn’t answer immediately, and Chloe assumed she’d fallen asleep. When she stood up to leave, she saw Beca’s hand reaching for her. Chloe took it and held it.

“Stay,” she mumbled, her eyes blinking open slowly. “Please. Please stay with me.”

“Of course,” Chloe said. She kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed beside her, hoping this was what Beca meant.

Beca rolled over and cuddled into her as best as she could. “Is this okay?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Chloe said, smiling as she put her arm around her. “More than okay.”

“I really like you too,” Beca said, before she relaxed into Chloe’s side and fell asleep.

* * *

**Chloe: I’ve had a really bad day, can I come over? xx**

**Beca: Yeah of course. Just let yourself in when you get here xx**

It was a few days after the shower incident and Beca had just about recovered from it. She’d started texting Chloe before she went in the shower, and as soon as she got out. They had a deal that if Chloe didn’t hear from Beca 45 minutes after going in the shower, Chloe would come check on her. Luckily that hadn’t happened yet. Just in case it did though, Beca had started timing her showers for when she knew Chloe was out of work. She really didn’t want to be in a situation again where she was either trapped in the bathtub or causing Chloe to get in trouble at work.

Around 20 minutes later, Beca heard the key in the lock and she looked up from her laptop screen to see Chloe letting herself in.

“Hey,” Beca said, shutting her laptop and putting it on the coffee table. “Are you okay?”

Chloe shook her head, her eyes red and tear filled, a smudge of mascara on the top of her cheek.

“Come sit down,” Beca said, a look of concern flooding her face. “Do you want tea or anything?”

“No,” Chloe said, sniffing and wiping her eyes as she dropped onto the sofa beside Beca. “Sorry. I’ve just had the worse day.”

“What happened?” Beca asked, wanting to comfort Chloe but not knowing how to.

“It was just… Just really sad. This old guy came in with his dog, this… this beautiful 12-year-old Labrador. He was just the sweetest boy,” Chloe said, her eyes filling with tears again. “He had a limp and this man just assumed he’d hurt his leg when he’d been running around the garden. I did an x-ray and it was a tumour. He had… He was full of them.”

“Oh no,” Beca said, softly.

“He… He thought everything would be fine. That his dog would get some meds or maybe a shot and then they’d take him home. He said he’d got the dog after his wife passed. He didn’t have any kids or relatives that were still alive. This dog was all he had and he… He had to say goodbye to him today.”

“That’s really sad, Chlo’,” Beca said, placing a hand on Chloe’s arm, rubbing up at down softly. “But I bet the dog had the best life with that guy. And even though it might not feel like it, you helped that dog. He isn’t in pain anymore because of you. He didn’t suffer.”

Chloe wiped her eyes again but new tears replaced the old ones almost immediately. “I know,” she said, trying to control her crying. “And I know I shouldn’t get so involved. But it just broke me. The thought of him losing his only companion. Of him going back to his home with just a leash instead of his best friend. Having to get rid of all the dog stuff. It’s killing me.”

“Come here,” Beca said, pulling Chloe into a hug. She didn’t know how Chloe did it. How she managed to feel for other people so deeply. How other people’s pain became her pain. How she carried it with her as if she was the one suffering. She didn’t know how she could stay as strong as she did.

She’d been friends with Chloe for a few weeks now, but this was the first time she’d seen her truly break down. It kinda scared her.

“I gave him my number,” Chloe said, once she’d managed to stop crying. “In case he needed someone to talk to or grab a coffee with.”

“Of course you did,” Beca said, laughing softly.

She wondered if that’s how Chloe saw her too. As just another unfortunate person who needed help. Not a friend, just someone she felt sorry for.

She tried to push that feeling away, but with her mental state being what it was, it lingered.

She tried to focus on the fact that Chloe had come to her for help this time. That their friendship wasn’t one-sided.

“Do you ever get tired?” Beca asked once their hug ended.

“Of what?”

“Of taking on everyone else’s emotions? Of feeling them so strongly?”

“Of course I do,” Chloe said, letting out a teary laugh. “Look at me, Beca. It’s part of my job to put animals down when they’re sick and dying, I do it every week, more than once a week usually, and I’ve been crying about this for hours. If there’s a way to… to dull these emotions, I don’t know how to do it. And I wouldn’t want to.”

“You wouldn’t?” Beca asked, tilting her head.

“No,” Chloe said. “These feelings… These connections, they… They make me want to help people. They make me want to be a better person. They helped me meet you.”

“I think your car helped you meet me,” Beca said, laughing lightly, ignoring the vicious voice in her head which whispered _you’re just another one of her projects._

_She doesn’t feel the same way about you as you do about her._

“Fair,” Chloe said laughing. “But if I didn’t have this… obsessive thing, I don’t know if I’d have fought so hard to meet you properly.”

“If you hadn’t felt sorry for me, you mean,” Beca said, the negative voice in her head getting louder.

Chloe frowned. “I didn’t say that. I didn’t want to meet you because I felt sorry for you. I wanted to meet you because I’d _hit you with my car_ and I needed to apologise and see that you were okay. Becs, we’ve been through this.” Chloe took Beca’s hands and felt relieved when she didn’t pull away. “I’m not here because I feel sorry for you. You’re… You’re not like the other people I’ve wanted to help before. I _like_ you, Beca. I really fucking like you.”

Beca sniffed slightly and tried not to look at Chloe. “I really like you too,” she said. “Sorry for… for being this way. You came here upset and I shouldn’t be questioning your motives all of the time. I just… I get paranoid. I can’t believe anyone as good as you would want to spend time with me because they enjoy my company.”

“You don’t need to apologise,” Chloe said. “I just want you to believe me, Beca. I want you to trust me.”

“I’m trying,” Beca said with a strained laugh, tears brimming in her eyes. “I’m really trying, Chlo’. But every other person in my life left as soon as I let down my guard. I don’t want that to happen with you. I don’t… I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t,” Chloe said, her hands moving to cup Beca’s face, thumbs sweeping across her cheeks to brush away the tears that fell. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“But-”

“Beca,” Chloe said, cutting her off. “Look at me.” Beca did. Her eyes were full of fear and pain, preparing for rejection. She swallowed hard when she locked eyes with Chloe. Chloe’s eyes were full of a fierce determination. Chloe leaned forward so their foreheads pressed together, her hands were still cupping her face. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Beca closed her eyes, letting more tears fall. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her breathing felt laboured. “I’m not good at this.”

“It’s okay,” Chloe said. “Open your eyes.” Again, Beca did, her chest still heaving. “Relax. Everything’s okay.”

Beca nodded and tried to control her breathing.

“Beca, are you having a panic attack?”

“No,” Beca said. “No, I’m fine. I just feel like I’m about to do something stupid.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Chloe asked, moving her head back slightly so she could look at Beca properly.

“Uh huh,” Beca said, her eyes dropping to Chloe’s lips. “I’m just nervous. I don’t want to screw this up."

Chloe smiled. “You won’t.”

Beca closed the gap between them, her eyes falling shut as her lips met Chloe’s.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> snowonebutyou said:  
> could you write maybe something about beca and chloe at a farmer's market at their first christmas together as a couple starting up new traditions? like getting hot chocolate, picking ornaments and a tree, stuff like that
> 
> Originally posted 23rd December 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: alcoholism is mentioned

Saturday mornings were Beca’s favourite time of the week for two reasons.

One, she got to sleep through them, catching up on all the sleep she’d lost through the week.

Two, she got to sleep through them with Chloe.

Chloe, the perpetual early bird, the seizer of every moment, had finally relented and given Beca this one lazy morning.

(Beca had tried to get Sunday morning too, but Chloe said she was pushing it.)

So on Saturdays they lay warm and comfortable, wrapped in each others arms, under layers of blankets because they couldn’t keep the heating 24 hours a day, and New York winters were _cold_.

They’d sleep late, waking up every few hours to exchange lazy kisses, before falling asleep again, eventually waking up to eat a late breakfast (read: lunch).

Except this Saturday was different.

Chloe was tugging the blankets away from Beca, or trying to at least, and telling her to get up and shower or they’d be late.

“Late for what?” Beca mumbled, her grip on the blankets surprisingly strong for 8 am.

“The Christmas market!”

“It is November 28th,” Beca said, incredulously, finally giving up and allowing Chloe to whip the blankets away.

“Exactly! So we need to go buy our decorations if we’re gonna stick to our plan!”

Beca sat up, brows furrowed, hair sticking up at every possible angle.

“I knew that plan would come back to bite me.”

“Come on, up! Up! Up!” Chloe said, each up punctuated by a clap of her hands.

Begrudgingly Beca climbed out of the safety and warmth of bed and made the quick cold dash to the shower. She felt herself relax as the hot water came sputtering out of the shower head and chased away the cold of their bathroom.

Their plan - or Beca and Chloe’s awesome best Christmas ever, as Chloe had dubbed it - had been finalised only a few days before.

It was their first real Christmas living together as a couple that would be spent just the two of them.

Chloe’s mom had video called her and said that as all her kids were grown up now, her and Chloe’s dad would be going on vacation for Christmas from now on.

Chloe had pouted and pleaded but her mom’s mind was made up. She said they had to start making new traditions now that they were getting older, and Chloe should do the same.

Chloe was still miserable when Beca had gotten home from work late that night.

“You know, we could start making our own traditions,” Beca said, trying to coax Chloe out of her bad mood. “That’s the fun part about growing up, right? When you’re a kid you just do what you’ve always done, but when you grow up and you start your new family, you get to try new things. Mix things up a bit. Create new traditions that you get to pass on.”

“I guess,” Chloe mumbled, allowing Beca to put an arm around her and squeeze her into a side hug.

“Come on,” Beca said, squeezing again, “let’s think of some things we can do.”

And so they spent the next hour making their plan.

“The Christmas decorations go up the first weekend in December,” Chloe said, writing the first part of their plan. “So we should buy decorations soon.”

“Okay,” Beca said. “But no lights that make noise or dancing Santas or anything.”

“Agreed,” Chloe said. “How do you feel about flashing lights?” Beca pulled a face. “Me too.”

“Christmas Eve we get take-out,” Beca said, realising this was her only Christmas tradition she wanted to carry over. “Chinese.”

“Sure,” Chloe said. “But you’re skipping ahead. We have a lot of December to fill. Christmas movies every weekend until Christmas Day.”

“Christmas _movie_ ,” Beca said. “You get one per weekend.”

“Two,” Chloe said, grinning, knowing she would win any negotiation.

“Fine. One on Saturday, one on Sunday,” Beca said.

“Deal,” Chloe said. “Naturally Christmas music while we decorate.”

“Naturally,” Beca said. “But no Glee cover versions.”

“But-”

“No.”

“Ugh, fine. Christmas sweaters?”

“Sure.”

“Matching?”

“Absolutely not.”

It carried on like that until they had their December planned out. And Beca wouldn’t admit it, but she was actually kind of excited about their first solo Christmas. They had spent last year with Chloe’s family, and the year before they hadn’t been dating so while Chloe had gone home, Beca had hung around in New York with anyone she could find who was still in town.

She’d had no desire to go back to her home town for Christmas for a long time now.

So she was excited to have Christmas plans that she could look forward to.

That was until Chloe had woken her up at 8 am on a Saturday so she could drag her around a Christmas market in New York.

“Is it gonna be crowded?” Beca asked, gratefully accepting a cup of coffee from Chloe as she left their bedroom, now fully dressed.

“Maybe,” Chloe said. “If we get there early enough it shouldn’t be too bad. Plus it’s not even December yet. I think it’ll get busier the longer we leave it.”

“Maybe next year we should do our Christmas shopping in June,” Beca said.

“I know you’re kidding but I promise you my Aunt Cheryl was fully wrapped by August,” Chloe said. “Anyway, don’t worry about the crowds. I’ll make sure you don’t get lost.”

“Okay, take it easy, you’re like an inch taller than me,” Beca said, rolling her eyes.

“If you say so,” Chloe said. “Okay, it opens soon, are you ready to go?”

They left their apartment, made the short but freezing walk to the subway, and about half an hour later they reached their stop.

“Hot chocolate?” Chloe asked, taking holding of Beca’s hand and pulling her towards where the market was set up.

“Good idea,” Beca said, shivering, her breath coming out in white clouds.

Beca looked around while Chloe ordered their drinks. It wasn’t too busy yet, she was glad to see, but she knew it was only likely to stay that way for another few hours. She hoped she’d be back in their apartment by lunch, but Chloe likely had other ideas.

“Here you go,” Chloe said, handing over a cup. “So, where first?”

“Lead the way,” Beca said, gesturing towards the many stalls laid out in front of them.

They spent the next few hours weaving through the crowds as they looked at every stall. Chloe bought them _almost_ matching Christmas sweaters - one for Chloe reading ‘I’m on the nice list’ and one for Beca which said ‘I’m on the naughty list’ - to which Beca had tried to protest.

“Are you telling me you’ve been a good girl this year, Beca? After the noises you made last night?” Chloe asked with a wink, causing Beca to blush furiously and stop complaining.

“I’m not wearing it in public,” Beca muttered.

“Duh, they’re for Christmas Day,” Chloe had replied, pulling her towards another stall that sold Christmas tree ornaments.

Chloe picked up some generic baubles, as well as some that seemed more personal to her. She grabbed a dog, a treble clef, and a teacup.

“Spotted any that speak to you?” Chloe asked.

Beca shrugged, but her eyes were fixed on what looked like a little ornament of a carton of Chinese takeout.

“This one?” Chloe asked.

Beca cleared her throat. “Yeah,” she said, trying to avoid Chloe’s eyes as she picked it up.

“What about the red panda?”

“Oh I didn’t even see him!” Beca said, almost squealing.

“Get the guitar too,” Chloe said, laughing at Beca’s reaction. “Then we have three each.”

“Okay,” Beca said. “I’ll get these, you bought the sweaters. Do you wanna get a star?”

“My Mom is gonna send our old one with some other bits, if that’s okay?”

“Fine with me,” Beca said before she paid and they carried on walking, Chloe’s hand never leaving hers the entire time.

Chloe bought them some lunch once they reached what seemed to be the end of the first half of the market. They still had to walk down the other side so Beca was predicting they’d be here another hour at least.

“Doing okay?” Chloe asked, knowing how much Beca hated crowds.

Beca nodded, loosening the scarf around her neck as they sat at one of the picnic tables set out by the food stalls.”How much longer?”

“We can stop whenever you want, Becs, you know that right?” Chloe asked, looking at her with concern filled eyes.

“I know,” Beca said, smiling, waiting for her Mac and Cheese to cool. “I was just wondering.”

Chloe pulled up the list on her phone and started ticking things off.

“It looks like we’ve got everything we came for. We can head back now if you want?”

“You wanna see the rest though, right?” Beca asked.

“Well, yeah, but I can come back another time.” Chloe said.

Beca shook her head. “I’m good. We can see the rest. Just promise I won’t have to move out of bed until at least noon tomorrow.”

“And that’s different from how you normally spend your Sunday?”

“Sorry, I should have clarified, you’ll need to stay in bed with me.”

“I guess I can agree to that,” Chloe said.

* * *

It was a week later and Chloe was dragging their newly purchased tree into their living room, close to the window so it could be seen from outside.

She was wearing a Santa hat, had tinsel wrapped around her neck like a scarf, and was singing along to their Christmas playlist.

Beca was sitting on the arm of the sofa, getting seemingly more and more frustrated as she tried to untangle the lights.

“These are brand-new lights,” Beca muttered. “How are they already tangled?”

“Give them here,” Chloe said. “You just don’t have the magic touch.”

“That’s not what you said last night.”

“Very funny,” Chloe said, holding out her hands for the lights.

Beca handed them over but before she could say anything else, she was cut off by her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out and sighed, lowering the volume on the music.

“It’s my Mom,” she said, pressing the green button and moving out of the living room and towards the bedroom. “Hey mom.”

Chloe frowned and bit her lip, wondering if she should continue.

This was something they should be doing together, but she also knew Beca usually ended up in a crappy mood after she spoke to her Mom.

Their relationship had been strained for as long as Chloe had known Beca, but she never really found out much about it. Beca didn’t speak about her much, and always clammed up whenever Chloe would ask, even now.

Chloe focused on detangling the lights, but decided she wouldn’t do any of the actual decorating until Beca came back.

It was almost an hour later when Beca came out of their bedroom and dropped onto the sofa beside Chloe.

“You okay?” Chloe asked, looking up from her phone.

Beca gave a non-committal grunt and turned to look at the tree. “You didn’t make much progress. Couldn’t untangle the lights?”

“Please, I did that in like 5 minutes. I wanted to wait for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Beca said, running a hand through her hair. “I didn’t mean to take that long but…” Beca shook her head as she trailed off. “It doesn’t matter." She pulled out her phone and restarted their playlist which had ended while Beca had been talking to her Mom. “Ready to carry on?”

Chloe smiled and nodded, and the two returned to their tree.

When it was decorated with a combination of the new stuff they had bought together, and the old stuff Chloe’s Mom had sent they both stood for a minute, smiling at their handiwork. Chloe’s arms came to wrap around Beca’s waist, her chin resting on Beca’s shoulder.

“I love it,” Chloe said, giving Beca a squeeze and kissing the side of her neck.

“Me too,” Beca said.

The soft white lights wrapped around the tree glowed with warmth against the now dark sky, the streetlights below barely reaching the window of their apartment.

It filled Beca with a feeling of cosiness and contentment that she didn’t usually associate with this time of year. Or any time of year for that matter.

“You know, if you wanted to talk about stuff with your Mom you can?” Chloe said, cautiously, feeling Beca tense beneath her arms.

“I’m good,” Beca said. “What movie are we watching?”

“Elf,” Chloe said, squeezing Beca even tighter.

* * *

Two weeks later, Chloe woke up in the middle of the night freezing cold and instinctively reached out for Beca. When her hand met cold sheets instead of Beca’s warm body, she opened her eyes, frowning.

It was then she realised she could hear Beca’s voice coming from the next room. She checked her phone and saw it was almost 2 am.

Frowning, she stepped out of bed and into the living room, pulling on her robe as she went.

“Mom, I can’t have this conversation with you again,” Beca said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she paced the living room. “I’m not in Barden anymore, Mom, I can’t just come over. We’ve been through this, I’m in New York.”

Chloe watched as Beca traced one of the ornaments on their now dark tree with her finger.

“Look, I’m gonna go, okay? It’s late. Yeah. Yeah I know.”

Chloe heard Beca suck in a breath the way she always did when she was trying not to cry.

“I love you too,” Beca said, her voice breaking. She swallowed hard, forcing her voice to stay steady. “I’m gonna call Grandma tomorrow, okay? She can check on you.”

When she ended the call she jumped as she felt Chloe’s arms wrap around her, but she soon relaxed into her. “Did I wake you?”

“No,” Chloe said. She tugged Beca’s hand and pulled her towards the window. “Look, it’s snowing.”

They sat on the floor, the Chloe’s back against the wall, Beca’s back against Chloe’s front, and they looked looked out the window, watching the snow drift down, turning yellow as it fell under the light of the streetlights.

They were quiet for a while until Beca finally spoke.

“She’s drinking again,” Beca said, tapping her phone against her leg. “She’s been calling more and more. Wanting me to go over. She… She’s always had trouble with her short term memory, and it only gets worse when she drinks. She thinks I’m still in Georgia.”

“I’m sorry Becs,” Chloe said. “It must be hard being away from her at times like this.”

Beca sniffed and rested a hand on Chloe’s leg, her thumb brushing against the soft fabric of her pyjamas. “Does it make me a shitty person if I say I’m glad I’m not in Georgia right now?”

“No,” Chloe said. “Of course not.”

“I don’t… I don’t like seeing her like this. It just… It reminds me of being a kid, a while after after they got divorced but before my Mom lost custody. She drank a lot then. Sometimes it was kinda fun. She’d let me skip school and we’d go on these adventures together or we’d stay up late eating pizza and playing video games. And then… It was like flipping a switch. She’d just… change. She used to scare me.”

Chloe’s grip tightened around Beca’s waist, and she pressed her lips into the back of her head.

“She knows I’ll only visit when she’s sober. And maybe that makes me selfish. I know I should be there when she needs me. She’s my _Mom._ I _love_ her,” Beca said, cutting herself off as her voice broke again.

“I know,” Chloe said, softly, pulling her closer. “You’re allowed to put yourself first. You shouldn’t go back to an environment that’s bad for you. And you’re the least selfish person I know. I love you, so so much.”

“I love you too,” Beca said, wiping her eyes as they continued to watch the snow which had only gotten heavier. “It wasn’t all bad,” Beca said, after a while. “Before she started really drinking, we had some good times together, just the two of us. For years. Christmas Eve was always my favourite day of the year.”

“Chinese takeout?”

“Yeah,” Beca said with a small laugh. “She’d order my favourite and we’d have like a slumber party in the living room, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. She said if I could stay awake until midnight, I’d be allowed to open one present. I never made it,” Beca said, smiling at the memory. “Even when things were really bad, when her drinking was at its worst, that was the one day that would always be good. Christmas wasn’t really the same when I had to move in with my Dad and Sheila. He tried but I guess I was just too angry and closed off by then.” Beca turned to face Chloe now. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For giving me a proper Christmas. For giving me new traditions and letting me reconnect with old ones. For being you.” She leaned forward to kiss her, and Chloe knelt up to meet her halfway.

* * *

“Chlo’ if I’m out of scotch tape can I use masking tape?” Beca called from the bedroom, two days before Christmas.

“No,” Chloe called back from the living room. Beca’s last present for Chloe had finally arrived, so she had spent the last few hours locked in their bedroom wrapping presents.

“I have more clear tape,” Chloe said, rummaging in a kitchen drawer until she found some.

“Don’t come in!” Beca said, in a panicked voice. She opened the door and quickly closed it behind her.

“Here,” Chloe said. “Are you gonna be much longer? I’m bored.”

“Almost done,” Beca said, returning to their bedroom and shutting the door.

* * *

“Here you go,” Chloe said, handing Beca her container of take-out Chinese and a pair of chopsticks.

“Thank you,” Beca said, grinning as she dug in. Chloe set two mugs of hot chocolate down on the coffee table, and pressed play on Netflix.

“Thank you for tolerating all my movies this month,” Chloe said, smiling as the opening music for Home Alone played.

“This one gets a free pass. It’s a classic.”

“I agree.”

“So,” Beca said, swallowing a mouthful of orange chicken. “If I stay up until midnight do I get to open a present early?”

“Sure,” Chloe said, grinning. “But you’ve been yawning since 6:30, I don’t think you’re gonna make it.”

To her credit, Beca lasted until 10:30 pm, falling asleep with 20 minutes to go in Home Alone 2.

When Chloe switched the movie off, the only light in the room was coming from the tree and the string of fairy lights around their window. She thought that Beca looked beautiful in the soft glow of the lights, her face relaxed and free of the stress she had been carrying around the last few weeks.

Still, she was a little disappointed she hadn’t made it until midnight, there was one gift she had wanted to give her tonight.

* * *

The next morning, Chloe tried to coax Beca out of bed at 7 am, with promises of coffee and pancakes for breakfast, but Beca would not budge.

“But it’s Christmas morning,” Chloe pouted.

“It’ll still be Christmas morning in an hour,” Beca mumbled, tugging Chloe back to bed, and curling around her to stop her moving again. “You don’t need to be up so early, you’re not 6.”

“And you don’t need to sleep all morning, you’re not 15.”

“Touche,” Beca mumbled. “Merry Christmas by the way.”

“Merry Christmas,” Chloe said, grinning.

After another 40 minutes of dosing in bed, Beca finally let Chloe drag her up.

They ate breakfast in their Christmas pyjamas, and then, at Chloe’s request, they got dressed in their almost-matching sweaters and took a selfie in front of their tree.

As they exchanged gifts, they both got increasingly more nervous. Something neither of them realised as they were too preoccupied with their own nerves to be focused on the other person.

“I, um, actually have one more for you,” Beca said, standing. “Two seconds.” She moved into the bedroom.

“Yeah, I do too,” Chloe said, reaching towards the back of the tree where the final present was hidden.

After a few minutes of silence, Beca spoke up from the bedroom.

“Chlo’, can you come in here for a minute?”

Chloe suddenly got a weird feeling in her stomach, and the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile.

“Actually Beca, I kinda need you in here,” Chloe said.

There was a small silence.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“It can’t wait?”

“No.”

Another small silence.

“Meet halfway?” Beca asked.

“Okay,” Chloe said. She stood from where she was in the living room and moved so she was in front of the window.

Beca left the bedroom, something held behind her back, and she walked until she was standing in front of Chloe.

Without a word, they both dropped to one knee.

“Chloe Beale.”

“Rebeca Mitchell.”

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes. Will you marry _me?_ ”

“Duh.”

They both laughed and kissed until they had to stop, happy tears streaming down both of their faces.

“I know we haven’t been officially together that long,” Beca said, wiping her eyes as she slid the ring onto Chloe’s finger. “But you’re my soulmate. I don’t ever want to be with anybody else.”

“I love you so much, Beca. I feel like I waited my whole life for you,” Chloe said, sliding the ring onto Beca’s finger. “I want spend the rest of it with you.”

“Best Christmas ever,” Beca said, still laughing and crying.

“Almost as good as the year we got a Wii,” Chloe said, earning a smack on the arm from Beca.

“I love you.”

“Love you more.”


End file.
